The Coldest Summer, VII
Title: The Coldest Summer
Team: Spy for the Order
Word Count: 5x100
Rating: PG-13
Challenge: Coldest Winter
Characters: Hermione, Severus
A/N: Previous sets: part I, part II , part III, part IV, part V, part VI.
Hermione thought about his question for a moment. Was she feeling warmer? The answer to that was very much a yes!, she had to admit. And she didn’t think it was all due to the ointment that was making her lips tingle in a most interesting way.
She decided not to share her findings with him but just nodded briefly, not trusting herself to speak.
This time, he waited for her to follow, instead of just taking off. After taking a few steps, he pointed ahead.
‘There’s a shelter right behind that hill. We keep some of our supplies there.’
* * *
As they walked on, Hermione couldn’t keep quiet any longer.
‘You said you were ready for your new life. Did you decide to live as a Muggle, then?’
‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘That was indeed my intention. I had a Muggle estate agent sell my old home as soon as I was feeling strong enough and moved to another area, far from anywhere with known Wizarding population.’
‘But you stayed in Britain?’ she prompted.
‘Initially, yes - I had a fair amount of Polyjuice Potion and used a glamour occasionally. But eventually I tired of the hiding and left for the Continent.’
* * *
‘I did - well, this and that,’ he continued. ‘For a time, I really did try to get used to living as a Muggle. I enjoyed my newfound freedom, indulging in most everything a single man in his prime and with nothing to tie him down might find pleasurable.’
Hermione couldn’t help but blush at the images his words were conjuring in her mind. Snape smirked slightly but didn’t comment.
‘At some point, however, I realised that settling down in the Muggle world was ... well, it was not going to work.’ He shrugged. ‘So I had to change my plans.’
* * *
‘And so you ended up here?’
‘It seemed like a good idea. Enough time had passed since the battle and I assumed the risk of anyone recognising me here - with no one else from Britain around - would be minimal. It was a gamble, certainly, but until you turned up today, I was quite safe.’
Hermione felt a little guilty at that, even though the situation was hardly her fault.
‘You mentioned a shelter,’ she said, wanting to change the subject for a while. ‘Is it still far?’
He shook his head. ‘Just over there. It should be warmer there, too.’
* * *
They found the shelter soon enough, as he had promised.
‘It’s a kind of secondary supply store,’ he explained. ‘It’s not safe to keep everything at the station - should anything go wrong there, it’s good to have a backup place. Of course, it’s not strictly necessary as - unlike Muggles - we would not have to wait for rescuers to arrive, but anything could happen. And sometimes Apparition is not an option.’
‘Sounds like a good plan,’ Hermione agreed, as they stepped inside. ‘Oh - you even have a kitchen here!’
‘Indeed. And a bedroom in the back,’ Snape replied with a smirk.
--
On to part VIII.
Team: Spy for the Order
Word Count: 5x100
Rating: PG-13
Challenge: Coldest Winter
Characters: Hermione, Severus
A/N: Previous sets: part I, part II , part III, part IV, part V, part VI.
Hermione thought about his question for a moment. Was she feeling warmer? The answer to that was very much a yes!, she had to admit. And she didn’t think it was all due to the ointment that was making her lips tingle in a most interesting way.
She decided not to share her findings with him but just nodded briefly, not trusting herself to speak.
This time, he waited for her to follow, instead of just taking off. After taking a few steps, he pointed ahead.
‘There’s a shelter right behind that hill. We keep some of our supplies there.’
* * *
As they walked on, Hermione couldn’t keep quiet any longer.
‘You said you were ready for your new life. Did you decide to live as a Muggle, then?’
‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘That was indeed my intention. I had a Muggle estate agent sell my old home as soon as I was feeling strong enough and moved to another area, far from anywhere with known Wizarding population.’
‘But you stayed in Britain?’ she prompted.
‘Initially, yes - I had a fair amount of Polyjuice Potion and used a glamour occasionally. But eventually I tired of the hiding and left for the Continent.’
* * *
‘I did - well, this and that,’ he continued. ‘For a time, I really did try to get used to living as a Muggle. I enjoyed my newfound freedom, indulging in most everything a single man in his prime and with nothing to tie him down might find pleasurable.’
Hermione couldn’t help but blush at the images his words were conjuring in her mind. Snape smirked slightly but didn’t comment.
‘At some point, however, I realised that settling down in the Muggle world was ... well, it was not going to work.’ He shrugged. ‘So I had to change my plans.’
* * *
‘And so you ended up here?’
‘It seemed like a good idea. Enough time had passed since the battle and I assumed the risk of anyone recognising me here - with no one else from Britain around - would be minimal. It was a gamble, certainly, but until you turned up today, I was quite safe.’
Hermione felt a little guilty at that, even though the situation was hardly her fault.
‘You mentioned a shelter,’ she said, wanting to change the subject for a while. ‘Is it still far?’
He shook his head. ‘Just over there. It should be warmer there, too.’
* * *
They found the shelter soon enough, as he had promised.
‘It’s a kind of secondary supply store,’ he explained. ‘It’s not safe to keep everything at the station - should anything go wrong there, it’s good to have a backup place. Of course, it’s not strictly necessary as - unlike Muggles - we would not have to wait for rescuers to arrive, but anything could happen. And sometimes Apparition is not an option.’
‘Sounds like a good plan,’ Hermione agreed, as they stepped inside. ‘Oh - you even have a kitchen here!’
‘Indeed. And a bedroom in the back,’ Snape replied with a smirk.
--
On to part VIII.