Severus, Redux: Chapter Thirteen
(In which an Order Meeting is overheard, and the plot thickens)
Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, 23 July 1996, 5:40 PM
Severus sneezed heavily and received an exasperated look from the girl next to him. He gave her a sour expression in return. It wasn’t like he could help it. They were crouched by the doors that lead down to the basement-kitchen of Number Twelve, focusing intently for any sounds that either of them might be able to pick up. He couldn’t help but wonder why the man had shredded the silencing ward for them. Or why his elder self hadn’t sent them away. Either it was an elaborate ruse set up to allow them to "break the rules" as Hermione had described or, for some reason, his elder self and the two new-comers had reason to go against Dumbledore’s orders.
Considering what Hermione had just said, he knew it was probably the first…and yet…something niggled the back of his mind. Absently he sniffed, thinking about it. The way she had described it, when the opportunities to break the rules had presented themselves to her and her friends before, they had been disguised as such. A door would be left unlatched, a password-ward conveniently not in place. Not this blatant permission. Even knowing it was probably a manipulation; he couldn’t help but wonder if there might be factions in the Order. There were factions under Lord Voldemort so it stood to reason.
His thoughts were interrupted abruptly as Dumbledore’s voice finally broke the murmured conversations below stairs. "Well, then. Since we have all managed to finally find the time to gather," Severus’ brows lifted at the faint edge in the headmaster’s voice, "I would rather like to hear an explanation for what happened at the Ministry. I’m sure you all remember our friends from the Time Division in the Department of Mysteries?"
Next to him, Hermione drew a sharp breath. When he glanced at her questioningly, she explained quietly, "Those two in the blue robes with Professor Snape are Unspeakables-from the Time Room. That’s where the Prophesies were all kept, too. Who knows what they've seen, or what they might have learnt from studying time?" The thought was intriguing. Giving her a short nod, he went back to listening, craning to hear.
"Surely you can understand that we’ve been a bit busy this last month, Professor Dumbledore. Your students left quite a mess, especially in our division. The Kairos Hall alone lost thousands of prophesies. If we hadn’t taken care to move them, we would have lost all the Time Turners, as well. The Chronos Lab and Athenaeum were practically torn apart."
That was the woman’s voice-it had to be. At least, it didn’t sound like Professor McGonagall or Tonks. He hadn’t met Mrs. Weasley yet, but she had been jabbering earlier to a hideously scarred fellow with a peg-leg on the way in, and her voice had been very distinctive. The speaker did sound vaguely familiar, though, so perhaps he had met the woman somewhere before. At one of the Slytherin gatherings in the past, perhaps?
"You had ‘taken care to move’ the Time Turners? You knew they were coming!" That was Lupin, his voice coming out in a harsh growl.
There was a low thud, followed by a disbelieving laugh. The male Unspeakable, Severus surmised. "Of course we knew. What, you think it’s easy to create a three hour window of time where there is no security in the path of six children bumbling their way through the Department of Mysteries? If the Dark Lord hadn’t been using his resources to achieve the same end, I doubt we would have been able to do it, entirely."
"Have a care, boy, you sound like a Death Eater, calling him that." The gravelly voice was threatening.
"I afford respect where respect is due," the Unspeakable answered coldly.
"We lost an Order member to that fight; one that Harry Potter saw as family. The children were hurt, two of them nearly killed." That was Mrs. Weasley. Her husband followed her outburst with his own hard, angry tones.
"There has been nearly a million galleons’ worth of damages, and for what? Our adversary did not even have a hostage. We gained nothing from the entire mess-that battle is a clear loss-and you willingly admit that you not only did nothing to stop it, but removed the barriers that would have kept it from happening?"
"Your loyalties do seem remarkably suspect." The low, measured tone was the tall black man, Kingsley. "What sort of people claim to work against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and yet lead children-including the Boy Who Lived-into his traps? Not to mention you name your workplace here, even though it is forbidden, and deliberately plan a security breach in the Ministry?"
"And really, the only word we have vouching for you is Snape’s." It was Lupin again, his voice heavy with meaning. Severus tensed, angry on behalf of his elder self. It wasn’t until Hermione’s hand slipped over his, uncurling his fingers to lace hers through that he realised that he had balled his hands into fists.
The woman’s voice was incredulous. "You know who I am."
"No, actually, we don’t," Lupin countered. "We know who you were. Who knows what you’ve become?"
"Not the Dark Lord’s lackey; never that." She retorted, right over the top of the man’s menacing hiss.
"How dare you! Sesh has dedicated her life to you-! "
"All of you, settle down." Dumbledore’s voice cut through the raised voices like a knife. "Severus, I said sit!"
"The children were fine. We were both there, in the shadows, making adjustments as needed." The man finally said. "We did what had to be done."
"Apparently you couldn’t be bothered to ‘make adjustments’ for Sirius, though." That voice was the Weasley couple’s eldest son, who had been quiet until now. "Or ‘make adjustments’ so that the night didn’t happen at all. I do believe that we are all still waiting for an explanation for that. Why would you encourage children into a trap like that, when we did stand to gain nothing?" There were murmured agreements from several others.
It was the woman who answered. "But we didn’t gain nothing, did we, Professor Dumbledore?" she said knowingly. "The Ministry now openly acknowledges the Dark Lord’s return and no longer calls Harry insane or a liar. The Order also is now the only side with access to Time Turners or Hauh Boxes. The Order is also now free of a very dangerous member."
Lupin’s voice rose in a protesting shout, but the woman’s voice kept going, cutting him firmly off. "I didn’t say that he was a bad man, Remus. I said dangerous. Sirius Black was more than half-mad, and constantly trying to live vicariously through Potter's deeds. He’s been prodding and needling him into trying idiotic stunts for months now while you lot all pretended not to care."
There was a shocked, offended silence. Severus snuffled a little, trying not to sneeze again and give them away in the quiet.
After a moment, the male Unspeakable picked up where his partner had left off, his voice more reasonable. "You must also realise the perspective that we have, and how it’s different from yours, just because of what we do. We see a different picture-a broader one."
Severus tilted closer to the door, listening eagerly as the Unspeakable continued, "Experiences, choices, life…it shapes people, and forges them into what they need to be to survive the next encounter. Professor Dumbledore has been manipulating the life of your ‘Chosen One’ since the day his parents died. That disaster, as you call it, shaped many of the major players of this war-it wasn’t something we could just change because of our allegiance."
"If Sirius Black had lived, who knows what he may have done to sabotage the future we have seen? If Harry Potter hadn’t led his friends into a disastrous battle in which he lost the godfather he was trying to save, would he be as cautious as he needs to be when it counts in the future? Will he trust the friends who had his back the way he must? Who do y-"
His voice was cut off abruptly, the silence heavy. Then, calmer, he said, "Excuse me. I’m being called by someone I must answer."
A small bevy of protests rose slightly, but didn’t deter the boots that started thumping up the stairs. Severus rose quickly, Hermione’s hand still caught in his, and reeled them both backward. Even if this man had been the one to invite them, it wouldn’t do to be caught listening at the door, especially if anyone was following him. They wouldn’t be fast enough to get under the table again-trying would only end up making them look ridiculous.
The door opened fully and the Unspeakable, his hood still down around his shoulders, emerged. He gave them an amused look, and shut the door firmly behind him. Not sparing them another glance, he pulled a small leather-bound journal out of one of his robe pockets. He ignored them for a few moments, making notes in it. He seemed to study his own work for a moment, then nodded sharply and re-pocketed it.
Next to him, Hermione gasped in shock and clutched his hand tighter as the man, still ignoring them, pulled a complicated looking gold pendant out from under the neck of his robes. He adjusted the freely swinging hourglass at its centre with a look of concentration on his face, and then flicked it with a practiced finger. Then he disappeared right in front of their eyes, his image fading away.
Severus, his eyes wide, swivelled his glance to Hermione. She was pale; clearly she had recognised the pendant. Severus had never seen one before in person, but he had seen many pictures in his research for his potion. If she recognised it as well, it could possibly explain why her birthday was "complicated." When had Hermione had the occasion to use a Time-Turner? Her breathless confirmation of the pendant didn’t make him feel less unsettled.
"A Time-Turner. He has a Time-Turner! I wonder where he’s gone, and why?" Hermione said it fast, then let out a small shriek as the front door to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place opened quickly, startling her. The Unspeakable strode back into the room, shutting the door behind him. His hood was now up.
"Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to startle you." His hands lifted and threw his hood back down again, his long fingers once more shaking out his dark curls. "Had to go for a bit."
"When?" Hermione burst out, apparently unable to keep it in. "How far back did you go, and what did you do?"
The man laughed out loud and ignored her question, turning instead to Severus. "You must be Atreus Prince, Severus’ nephew," he said genially. "You can call me Damian."
Severus started. He had forgotten that as an illegitimate child his last name would be Prince, rather than Snape. His eyes narrowed then. Something about the man’s tone… he knew. He wasn’t sure how-maybe because of where he worked?-but somehow, this man knew who he really was. "Yes," Severus answered. "How do you know Professor Snape?" There was a faint challenge in his voice.
Damian’s grin widened devilishly and his eyes openly mocked Severus. "Oh, we’re old friends. I knew him in school."
Severus felt his eyes narrow further and he itched to call the man a liar. He hadn’t had any close friends like Damian seemed to be implying. Certainly he hadn’t known this man. Perhaps he had gone to Hogwarts at the same time, but he hadn’t been a friend of his. Severus couldn’t call him out on it, though, not without openly giving in and letting him win the game. Hermione made a small sound and he suddenly realised he was squeezing her hand more tightly than was warranted. He grimaced slightly. He hadn’t meant to hurt her.
"You’re lying. You know what’s going on somehow. Did Professor Snape tell you?" Hermione suddenly accused. Severus fought not to roll his eyes. So much for subtlety. He really needed to talk to her about that before school started again. Otherwise the whole school would know as soon as anyone had a hunch in front of her.
As he had before, Damian ignored Hermione’s question, and simply studied her for a moment, smirk in place. "And you. You’re Hermione Jean Granger, Harry Potter’s best friend." He gave a small huff of laughter. "Time is funny, isn’t it, Hermione Granger?" He directed his attention back to Severus. "Yes. I did actually go to school with you for a while, though you looked a bit different then. Not enough to fool my memory, but of course," his eyes gleamed, "I have a bit of an advantage in that quarter."
"Time Turners can’t go back that far," Hermione said authoritatively, then hesitated as she realised who she was speaking to, "can they?"
"Can they indeed? That’s certainly a question to ponder, Miss Hermione Granger."
"Why do you keep calling me by my full name like that?" Her voice was irritated.
"It tickles my sense of humour," he replied.
"You know what I find doesn’t tickle my sense of humour, even a little?" Hermione’s voice shook so slightly that he might have missed it if he hadn’t been spending so much time with her. Damian didn’t appear to miss it either and his eyes crinkled.
"Do tell, Miss Hermione Granger. What do you find so very serious?"
"You call Lord Voldemort ‘the Dark Lord,’ and you got called in a way no one else can hear, you are a time traveller who writes in a leather-bound diary, then wait as if it’s responding. Since you know so much, perhaps you know why all of that might be serious to me."
Damian threw his head back and laughed.
Unable to help himself, Severus sneezed, hard. Bloody head cold was driving him insane. To his surprise, Damian’s eyes flew to him, his gaze sharp. "Are you feeling a bit under the weather, Atreus?"
Annoyed, Severus answered, "It’s just a cold. We can apparently cure tuberculosis and even eradicate the black plague, but the common cold? Beyond us."
"Ah, but then what would we use to fight off the aliens when they land?" Damian asked idly, startling Severus into a short laugh. "Still. Still, that’s…interesting."
"Aliens?" Hermione’s mounting frustration and anger was clearly mounting. "Stop side-stepping me!"
Damian’s attention returned to her, his face suddenly impassive. "Tell me something, Miss Hermione Granger. Do you trust your Professor Snape?"
Severus tried not to let his own interest in the question show as he, too, glanced at the girl next to him. She looked startled, and then firmly answered, "Yes, implicitly."
"He trusts me enough to introduce me to your Order of the Phoenix, and grant me access to this safe house. So you should have nothing to fret over, then, yes?" A brow lifted.
The man had not actually answered her question at all, Severus noted. He had responded in a very Slytherin way. A sidelong glance at Hermione showed that she had either gotten better at schooling her features in the last few minutes, or she hadn’t noticed.
"Perhaps it is time for you to return to the meeting below, Vector, and stop antagonizing my nephew and his…friend." The professor’s voice quietly cut in from behind them, causing Severus to jump slightly. Hermione actually gasped and spun about to gape; a quick assessment showed that her cheeks had heated attractively again. Severus forced himself not to grin. The Unspeakable had just tricked her into stating her trust right in front of the professor. No doubt she was very glad at this point that she hadn’t hesitated before answering.
The professor himself was impassive, his expression giving nothing away about how he felt about her clearly stated faith in him. A small tilt of his head towards the door had Damian smirking and sauntering to the door. The professor waited until he had disappeared down the stairs before saying softly, "While I do believe that Damian Vector is not working for the Dark Lord, and he and his partner to be valuable resources, I think it would be a good idea to avoid him in the future, if you are able. He is…fond of causing uncomfortable situations for his amusement."
Severus felt himself nod silently, when Hermione suddenly blurted out, "Sir?"
Professor Snape paused before following the Unspeakable down the stairs, glancing over his shoulder at her.
"He-Damian-the first thing he did when he got up here was use appear to communicate with a diary, and then use a Time Turner. I don’t know when he went, but…I thought you should know, sir."
Professor Snape’s brows twitched fractionally. "What Damian Vector does should not concern you, Miss Granger. Curiosity can be detrimental to more than cats."
Severus felt himself frown slightly. Despite the impression the professor was giving, he was almost certain that the man hadn’t known, and found the information interesting. His eyes sharp, he watched his elder version meticulously ward the door into silence again, and shut the door securely behind him as he descended the stairs after the Unspeakable.
Next to him, Hermione let out a frustrated sigh. "Well, that’s that, I guess." Her lips pursed again and Severus had the sudden urge to try to talk her into letting him kiss her again. He could puzzle over the odd encounter later, perhaps.
Clearing his throat a bit nervously, he ventured, "There’s uh, apparently a comet visible."
The girl gave him a strange look. "Yes, Hale-Bopp. We started looking for it in Astronomy towards the end of the year."
Shit. Of course she’s already studied it in class. Severus shrugged uneasily; it was too late to backpedal now. "Well, I haven’t really seen it yet and it’s bound to be brighter than a month ago, now. I just thought maybe you’d…you know, like to take a look tonight? Uh, I mean, with me? It’s supposed to clear up tonight, and the top floor has a window that lets you climb right out onto the roof, and I just thought…" His felt his cheeks burn as his voice trailed off and tried to decide if he could somehow disappear. He peaked up at her from behind his hair and, to his surprise, she was smiling so brightly it nearly split her face in two.
"You mean…like a date?"
Severus felt himself freeze instinctively. Any other girl would ridicule him for attempting to garner a date. This, however, wasn’t any other girl, he reminded himself. She was smiling and she had kissed him yesterday. She confessed to fancying him. He swallowed and managed to croak out, "Yeah. I mean yes. Like a date. You know, if you want."
The girl beamed at him again. "I would really like that."
Severus felt his breath leave him in an embarrassing whoosh. He offered her a small smile and then ruined what little remained of his dignity by sneezing heavily.
A/N: Sorry for the repost--there was a mix up, and the original one got deleted. :-(
I am unaccountably excited to be posting this particular chapter. It has been one of my favourites to write so far, as well as one of the easiest. This was one of those that just...came out, and very little was changed from the rough draft. A few questions were answered to the discerning eye, a lot more presented...hopefully.
I like to think that my plot is clever, but we all know that readers often tend to be more clever than their writers. X-D All I ask is that if you've caught me out to please not review about it and spoil it for everyone else! E-Mails and PMs are of course, a different story.
One again, thanks so much for reading! Please review, I really appreciate it!
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Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, 23 July 1996, 5:40 PM
Severus sneezed heavily and received an exasperated look from the girl next to him. He gave her a sour expression in return. It wasn’t like he could help it. They were crouched by the doors that lead down to the basement-kitchen of Number Twelve, focusing intently for any sounds that either of them might be able to pick up. He couldn’t help but wonder why the man had shredded the silencing ward for them. Or why his elder self hadn’t sent them away. Either it was an elaborate ruse set up to allow them to "break the rules" as Hermione had described or, for some reason, his elder self and the two new-comers had reason to go against Dumbledore’s orders.
Considering what Hermione had just said, he knew it was probably the first…and yet…something niggled the back of his mind. Absently he sniffed, thinking about it. The way she had described it, when the opportunities to break the rules had presented themselves to her and her friends before, they had been disguised as such. A door would be left unlatched, a password-ward conveniently not in place. Not this blatant permission. Even knowing it was probably a manipulation; he couldn’t help but wonder if there might be factions in the Order. There were factions under Lord Voldemort so it stood to reason.
His thoughts were interrupted abruptly as Dumbledore’s voice finally broke the murmured conversations below stairs. "Well, then. Since we have all managed to finally find the time to gather," Severus’ brows lifted at the faint edge in the headmaster’s voice, "I would rather like to hear an explanation for what happened at the Ministry. I’m sure you all remember our friends from the Time Division in the Department of Mysteries?"
Next to him, Hermione drew a sharp breath. When he glanced at her questioningly, she explained quietly, "Those two in the blue robes with Professor Snape are Unspeakables-from the Time Room. That’s where the Prophesies were all kept, too. Who knows what they've seen, or what they might have learnt from studying time?" The thought was intriguing. Giving her a short nod, he went back to listening, craning to hear.
"Surely you can understand that we’ve been a bit busy this last month, Professor Dumbledore. Your students left quite a mess, especially in our division. The Kairos Hall alone lost thousands of prophesies. If we hadn’t taken care to move them, we would have lost all the Time Turners, as well. The Chronos Lab and Athenaeum were practically torn apart."
That was the woman’s voice-it had to be. At least, it didn’t sound like Professor McGonagall or Tonks. He hadn’t met Mrs. Weasley yet, but she had been jabbering earlier to a hideously scarred fellow with a peg-leg on the way in, and her voice had been very distinctive. The speaker did sound vaguely familiar, though, so perhaps he had met the woman somewhere before. At one of the Slytherin gatherings in the past, perhaps?
"You had ‘taken care to move’ the Time Turners? You knew they were coming!" That was Lupin, his voice coming out in a harsh growl.
There was a low thud, followed by a disbelieving laugh. The male Unspeakable, Severus surmised. "Of course we knew. What, you think it’s easy to create a three hour window of time where there is no security in the path of six children bumbling their way through the Department of Mysteries? If the Dark Lord hadn’t been using his resources to achieve the same end, I doubt we would have been able to do it, entirely."
"Have a care, boy, you sound like a Death Eater, calling him that." The gravelly voice was threatening.
"I afford respect where respect is due," the Unspeakable answered coldly.
"We lost an Order member to that fight; one that Harry Potter saw as family. The children were hurt, two of them nearly killed." That was Mrs. Weasley. Her husband followed her outburst with his own hard, angry tones.
"There has been nearly a million galleons’ worth of damages, and for what? Our adversary did not even have a hostage. We gained nothing from the entire mess-that battle is a clear loss-and you willingly admit that you not only did nothing to stop it, but removed the barriers that would have kept it from happening?"
"Your loyalties do seem remarkably suspect." The low, measured tone was the tall black man, Kingsley. "What sort of people claim to work against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and yet lead children-including the Boy Who Lived-into his traps? Not to mention you name your workplace here, even though it is forbidden, and deliberately plan a security breach in the Ministry?"
"And really, the only word we have vouching for you is Snape’s." It was Lupin again, his voice heavy with meaning. Severus tensed, angry on behalf of his elder self. It wasn’t until Hermione’s hand slipped over his, uncurling his fingers to lace hers through that he realised that he had balled his hands into fists.
The woman’s voice was incredulous. "You know who I am."
"No, actually, we don’t," Lupin countered. "We know who you were. Who knows what you’ve become?"
"Not the Dark Lord’s lackey; never that." She retorted, right over the top of the man’s menacing hiss.
"How dare you! Sesh has dedicated her life to you-! "
"All of you, settle down." Dumbledore’s voice cut through the raised voices like a knife. "Severus, I said sit!"
"The children were fine. We were both there, in the shadows, making adjustments as needed." The man finally said. "We did what had to be done."
"Apparently you couldn’t be bothered to ‘make adjustments’ for Sirius, though." That voice was the Weasley couple’s eldest son, who had been quiet until now. "Or ‘make adjustments’ so that the night didn’t happen at all. I do believe that we are all still waiting for an explanation for that. Why would you encourage children into a trap like that, when we did stand to gain nothing?" There were murmured agreements from several others.
It was the woman who answered. "But we didn’t gain nothing, did we, Professor Dumbledore?" she said knowingly. "The Ministry now openly acknowledges the Dark Lord’s return and no longer calls Harry insane or a liar. The Order also is now the only side with access to Time Turners or Hauh Boxes. The Order is also now free of a very dangerous member."
Lupin’s voice rose in a protesting shout, but the woman’s voice kept going, cutting him firmly off. "I didn’t say that he was a bad man, Remus. I said dangerous. Sirius Black was more than half-mad, and constantly trying to live vicariously through Potter's deeds. He’s been prodding and needling him into trying idiotic stunts for months now while you lot all pretended not to care."
There was a shocked, offended silence. Severus snuffled a little, trying not to sneeze again and give them away in the quiet.
After a moment, the male Unspeakable picked up where his partner had left off, his voice more reasonable. "You must also realise the perspective that we have, and how it’s different from yours, just because of what we do. We see a different picture-a broader one."
Severus tilted closer to the door, listening eagerly as the Unspeakable continued, "Experiences, choices, life…it shapes people, and forges them into what they need to be to survive the next encounter. Professor Dumbledore has been manipulating the life of your ‘Chosen One’ since the day his parents died. That disaster, as you call it, shaped many of the major players of this war-it wasn’t something we could just change because of our allegiance."
"If Sirius Black had lived, who knows what he may have done to sabotage the future we have seen? If Harry Potter hadn’t led his friends into a disastrous battle in which he lost the godfather he was trying to save, would he be as cautious as he needs to be when it counts in the future? Will he trust the friends who had his back the way he must? Who do y-"
His voice was cut off abruptly, the silence heavy. Then, calmer, he said, "Excuse me. I’m being called by someone I must answer."
A small bevy of protests rose slightly, but didn’t deter the boots that started thumping up the stairs. Severus rose quickly, Hermione’s hand still caught in his, and reeled them both backward. Even if this man had been the one to invite them, it wouldn’t do to be caught listening at the door, especially if anyone was following him. They wouldn’t be fast enough to get under the table again-trying would only end up making them look ridiculous.
The door opened fully and the Unspeakable, his hood still down around his shoulders, emerged. He gave them an amused look, and shut the door firmly behind him. Not sparing them another glance, he pulled a small leather-bound journal out of one of his robe pockets. He ignored them for a few moments, making notes in it. He seemed to study his own work for a moment, then nodded sharply and re-pocketed it.
Next to him, Hermione gasped in shock and clutched his hand tighter as the man, still ignoring them, pulled a complicated looking gold pendant out from under the neck of his robes. He adjusted the freely swinging hourglass at its centre with a look of concentration on his face, and then flicked it with a practiced finger. Then he disappeared right in front of their eyes, his image fading away.
Severus, his eyes wide, swivelled his glance to Hermione. She was pale; clearly she had recognised the pendant. Severus had never seen one before in person, but he had seen many pictures in his research for his potion. If she recognised it as well, it could possibly explain why her birthday was "complicated." When had Hermione had the occasion to use a Time-Turner? Her breathless confirmation of the pendant didn’t make him feel less unsettled.
"A Time-Turner. He has a Time-Turner! I wonder where he’s gone, and why?" Hermione said it fast, then let out a small shriek as the front door to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place opened quickly, startling her. The Unspeakable strode back into the room, shutting the door behind him. His hood was now up.
"Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to startle you." His hands lifted and threw his hood back down again, his long fingers once more shaking out his dark curls. "Had to go for a bit."
"When?" Hermione burst out, apparently unable to keep it in. "How far back did you go, and what did you do?"
The man laughed out loud and ignored her question, turning instead to Severus. "You must be Atreus Prince, Severus’ nephew," he said genially. "You can call me Damian."
Severus started. He had forgotten that as an illegitimate child his last name would be Prince, rather than Snape. His eyes narrowed then. Something about the man’s tone… he knew. He wasn’t sure how-maybe because of where he worked?-but somehow, this man knew who he really was. "Yes," Severus answered. "How do you know Professor Snape?" There was a faint challenge in his voice.
Damian’s grin widened devilishly and his eyes openly mocked Severus. "Oh, we’re old friends. I knew him in school."
Severus felt his eyes narrow further and he itched to call the man a liar. He hadn’t had any close friends like Damian seemed to be implying. Certainly he hadn’t known this man. Perhaps he had gone to Hogwarts at the same time, but he hadn’t been a friend of his. Severus couldn’t call him out on it, though, not without openly giving in and letting him win the game. Hermione made a small sound and he suddenly realised he was squeezing her hand more tightly than was warranted. He grimaced slightly. He hadn’t meant to hurt her.
"You’re lying. You know what’s going on somehow. Did Professor Snape tell you?" Hermione suddenly accused. Severus fought not to roll his eyes. So much for subtlety. He really needed to talk to her about that before school started again. Otherwise the whole school would know as soon as anyone had a hunch in front of her.
As he had before, Damian ignored Hermione’s question, and simply studied her for a moment, smirk in place. "And you. You’re Hermione Jean Granger, Harry Potter’s best friend." He gave a small huff of laughter. "Time is funny, isn’t it, Hermione Granger?" He directed his attention back to Severus. "Yes. I did actually go to school with you for a while, though you looked a bit different then. Not enough to fool my memory, but of course," his eyes gleamed, "I have a bit of an advantage in that quarter."
"Time Turners can’t go back that far," Hermione said authoritatively, then hesitated as she realised who she was speaking to, "can they?"
"Can they indeed? That’s certainly a question to ponder, Miss Hermione Granger."
"Why do you keep calling me by my full name like that?" Her voice was irritated.
"It tickles my sense of humour," he replied.
"You know what I find doesn’t tickle my sense of humour, even a little?" Hermione’s voice shook so slightly that he might have missed it if he hadn’t been spending so much time with her. Damian didn’t appear to miss it either and his eyes crinkled.
"Do tell, Miss Hermione Granger. What do you find so very serious?"
"You call Lord Voldemort ‘the Dark Lord,’ and you got called in a way no one else can hear, you are a time traveller who writes in a leather-bound diary, then wait as if it’s responding. Since you know so much, perhaps you know why all of that might be serious to me."
Damian threw his head back and laughed.
Unable to help himself, Severus sneezed, hard. Bloody head cold was driving him insane. To his surprise, Damian’s eyes flew to him, his gaze sharp. "Are you feeling a bit under the weather, Atreus?"
Annoyed, Severus answered, "It’s just a cold. We can apparently cure tuberculosis and even eradicate the black plague, but the common cold? Beyond us."
"Ah, but then what would we use to fight off the aliens when they land?" Damian asked idly, startling Severus into a short laugh. "Still. Still, that’s…interesting."
"Aliens?" Hermione’s mounting frustration and anger was clearly mounting. "Stop side-stepping me!"
Damian’s attention returned to her, his face suddenly impassive. "Tell me something, Miss Hermione Granger. Do you trust your Professor Snape?"
Severus tried not to let his own interest in the question show as he, too, glanced at the girl next to him. She looked startled, and then firmly answered, "Yes, implicitly."
"He trusts me enough to introduce me to your Order of the Phoenix, and grant me access to this safe house. So you should have nothing to fret over, then, yes?" A brow lifted.
The man had not actually answered her question at all, Severus noted. He had responded in a very Slytherin way. A sidelong glance at Hermione showed that she had either gotten better at schooling her features in the last few minutes, or she hadn’t noticed.
"Perhaps it is time for you to return to the meeting below, Vector, and stop antagonizing my nephew and his…friend." The professor’s voice quietly cut in from behind them, causing Severus to jump slightly. Hermione actually gasped and spun about to gape; a quick assessment showed that her cheeks had heated attractively again. Severus forced himself not to grin. The Unspeakable had just tricked her into stating her trust right in front of the professor. No doubt she was very glad at this point that she hadn’t hesitated before answering.
The professor himself was impassive, his expression giving nothing away about how he felt about her clearly stated faith in him. A small tilt of his head towards the door had Damian smirking and sauntering to the door. The professor waited until he had disappeared down the stairs before saying softly, "While I do believe that Damian Vector is not working for the Dark Lord, and he and his partner to be valuable resources, I think it would be a good idea to avoid him in the future, if you are able. He is…fond of causing uncomfortable situations for his amusement."
Severus felt himself nod silently, when Hermione suddenly blurted out, "Sir?"
Professor Snape paused before following the Unspeakable down the stairs, glancing over his shoulder at her.
"He-Damian-the first thing he did when he got up here was use appear to communicate with a diary, and then use a Time Turner. I don’t know when he went, but…I thought you should know, sir."
Professor Snape’s brows twitched fractionally. "What Damian Vector does should not concern you, Miss Granger. Curiosity can be detrimental to more than cats."
Severus felt himself frown slightly. Despite the impression the professor was giving, he was almost certain that the man hadn’t known, and found the information interesting. His eyes sharp, he watched his elder version meticulously ward the door into silence again, and shut the door securely behind him as he descended the stairs after the Unspeakable.
Next to him, Hermione let out a frustrated sigh. "Well, that’s that, I guess." Her lips pursed again and Severus had the sudden urge to try to talk her into letting him kiss her again. He could puzzle over the odd encounter later, perhaps.
Clearing his throat a bit nervously, he ventured, "There’s uh, apparently a comet visible."
The girl gave him a strange look. "Yes, Hale-Bopp. We started looking for it in Astronomy towards the end of the year."
Shit. Of course she’s already studied it in class. Severus shrugged uneasily; it was too late to backpedal now. "Well, I haven’t really seen it yet and it’s bound to be brighter than a month ago, now. I just thought maybe you’d…you know, like to take a look tonight? Uh, I mean, with me? It’s supposed to clear up tonight, and the top floor has a window that lets you climb right out onto the roof, and I just thought…" His felt his cheeks burn as his voice trailed off and tried to decide if he could somehow disappear. He peaked up at her from behind his hair and, to his surprise, she was smiling so brightly it nearly split her face in two.
"You mean…like a date?"
Severus felt himself freeze instinctively. Any other girl would ridicule him for attempting to garner a date. This, however, wasn’t any other girl, he reminded himself. She was smiling and she had kissed him yesterday. She confessed to fancying him. He swallowed and managed to croak out, "Yeah. I mean yes. Like a date. You know, if you want."
The girl beamed at him again. "I would really like that."
Severus felt his breath leave him in an embarrassing whoosh. He offered her a small smile and then ruined what little remained of his dignity by sneezing heavily.
A/N: Sorry for the repost--there was a mix up, and the original one got deleted. :-(
I am unaccountably excited to be posting this particular chapter. It has been one of my favourites to write so far, as well as one of the easiest. This was one of those that just...came out, and very little was changed from the rough draft. A few questions were answered to the discerning eye, a lot more presented...hopefully.
I like to think that my plot is clever, but we all know that readers often tend to be more clever than their writers. X-D All I ask is that if you've caught me out to please not review about it and spoil it for everyone else! E-Mails and PMs are of course, a different story.
One again, thanks so much for reading! Please review, I really appreciate it!
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