Chapter Text
The letter arrived just as he was sitting down with Minerva to have some tea. A gigantic owl had fluttered into his office through the window, proceeding to drop it on his desk, and then flew away with a deafening screech. Now Severus Snape stared at the golden seal with the unmistakable M and could not prevent his heart from immediately start beating faster.
"Aren't you going to open it?" asked Minerva when he made no move to reach for the letter.
"No," he replied.
"Why not?"
"Because it would be rude to go through my professional correspondence while you're here for a chat."
Minerva McGonagall made an amused sound. "And what is the true reason?"
"That you are too nosy for your own good. It's not natural for the Ministry to let me in on it, I don't want to betray their trust by sharing information with you that isn't meant for you."
"Merlin, Severus, I don't want you to read me the letter. I just would be most interested to know if Hermione is all right?"
"If she wasn't all right," Snape replied tersely, "we would have found out from the Daily Prophet by now."
"How can you be so calm?"
He wasn't. Anything but that. It had been three days since the Minister for Magic had sought refuge at Hogwarts and since then, glancing at the front page of the Daily Prophet in the morning had been a top priority, even before he took his first sip of coffee. For one thing, he hoped to read there that the wizards responsible for the attack on the Minister had been caught. On the other hand, he feared to find the headline that the same sorcerers had dared a second attempt and had finally succeeded. Who knew how deep the betrayal went into the Ministry and whether it was really safe there?
"Miss Granger is in safe hands," he said against his own misgivings.
"Is that really true?" asked Minerva, tapping against her teacup. "Why isn't she in a safe house?"
"You're a Gryffindor," Snape retorted, "you'd better explain to me what it is about the urge to always play the heroine."
His former colleague clicked her tongue. "You will not open the letter while I am here, am I correct?"
"Correct."
Minerva nodded. "Then I will go now." She placed her tea on the table and stood up. "Take care, Severus."
Snape rose as well and looked at her with a furrowed brow. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"That in some ways there is more Gryffindor in you than you would like to admit."
"I won't do anything rash if that's what you mean."
She nodded. "I'm glad to hear that." She took one last look at the letter. "Say hello to Hermione for me, will you?"
"I will if I see her any time soon that is."
"Oh, I think you will."
Snape rolled his eyes. Sometimes he heard Dumbledore in the old witch's words. When the latter had disappeared through the door of his office, Snape exhaled loudly and looked down at the letter as well. The serious situation the Minister was in was of course only one reason why mail from her had him in a tizzy. The other reason was that he simply couldn't forget what had happened when she had stayed overnight at Hogwarts.
He had hoped that his thoughts would turn to other things again after whatever had built up between them had been discharged, but that had been a naïve wish, of course. His life was boring - which, based on his biography, wasn't the worst thing - and the night with Hermione Granger had been the most exciting, and generally speaking, the most arousing thing that had happened to him in years. But apart from the fact that images of their tryst kept flashing before his mind's eye - Hermione Granger sucking his thumb, Hermione Granger whispering her desire in his ear, Hermione Granger's quivering body - he missed her terribly. Missed the tea with her.
Snape clenched his jaws, finally reached for the letter, and opened it.
He realised immediately that the words were not from Miss Granger herself - the young witch's handwriting had been etched in forever thanks to her far too extensive essays. His eyes darted to the signature and he couldn't suppress an annoyed groan.
Robards.
His gaze slid back to the beginning of the message. He was to come to the Ministry to discuss with him and the Minister the observations he had made while examining the files. Relief that the message had not received any disturbing news gave way to disappointment that the Minister had not written the letter herself.
Snape crumpled up the paper.
How ridiculous.
Merlin knows she had better things to do than correspond with him. What had he expected? And why had he, anyway?
Miss Granger and he had shared a moment, nothing more. He did well not to read more into it.
Snape unfolded the letter again and tucked it away in a drawer of his desk. Then he made his way to the Ministry of Magic.
*
If it hadn't been known already that there had been an assassination attempt on Minister Granger, then the security at the Ministry did give it away immediately. Snape was subjected to several spells at the entrance to the Atrium and had to answer questions whose answers only he could know.
One of the two Aurors who had accompanied Miss Granger into Hogwarts was waiting for him at the end of the security check. He tapped his hat again in greeting and gestured for him to follow, but didn't say a word.
The corridors of the ministry were virtually empty and they were the only ones in the lift as well. Nothing reminded him of the usual bustling activity in this building. It was fine with him because it spared him the usual suspicious looks he received every time he had to be here.
As the voice of the lift announced the eighth floor, Snape felt a nervous tug in his stomach. He gritted his teeth.
Waiting outside the Minister's office was the young Auror who had also escorted Miss Granger out of Hogwarts. She smiled when she saw Snape and her features reminded him of someone.
"Headmaster," she said, meanwhile knocking once briefly on the door to the office and finally opening it.
The tugging in his stomach became unbearable, but outwardly he was calm. If he couldn't control his emotions, at least he could control his appearance. He nodded at the Auror and finally entered.
Hermione Granger was wearing light purple trousers and a casual white shirt. Her hair was tied up in a wild knot, a few curls hanging down her forehead as she was bending over the table to better study a document before her.
When she lifted her head and caught sight of him, her face lit up for a brief moment. She was bloody beautiful.
"Professor," she said in a friendly but professional tone.
"Minister." Snape bowed his head in greeting and then stepped further into the office. The door closed behind him with a soft click.
"Thank you for coming." Miss Granger gestured to the visitor's chair. "Please."
Snape took a seat in front of her desk. It all resembled her first visit to Hogwarts a few weeks ago, only this time he was the visitor.
"May I offer you some tea?" the Minister asked a little stiffly. There was none of the composure that had settled between them over time. She was probably already regretting their tête-à-tête.
"That would be appreciated," Snape replied just as stiltedly. "Your Auror doesn't talk much, does he?" he asked, trying to fill the silence as a floating pot filled the cup that stood before him.
"Quinn?" Miss Granger shook her head. "No. But that makes him a good listener." She smiled fleetingly. "I'm sorry I didn't come by for tea."
"I didn't expect you to," Snape countered. "You have more important things to do at the moment."
"No - I mean, yes, but apart from that, the Floo network to the Ministry is disabled."
"Understandable. Is there anything new? A lead?"
"No," Miss Granger sighed. "It's as if the Neo-Death Eaters have fallen off the face of the earth. And the four Aurors with them."
Snape nodded thoughtfully. That meant either that the Aurors were being held and tortured or that they were involved in the assassination.
"Do I want to know what you're thinking right now?" Miss Granger asked, tilting her head.
"If the Aurors were dead, we would already know."
"That's good, isn't it?"
Snape considered what to answer. He didn't want to give her false hope, nor did he want to take it away.
"I know this silence by now," she interrupted his deliberations. "You don't have to go easy on me. You know I value your honesty. And your experience."
Snape reached for his cup of tea. "I don't know how those new Death Eaters operate. That they conjured up a false Dark Mark in the sky suggests that they emulate the earlier Death Eaters. Still, it was probably just a provocation. Or showing off. Have you had any response from Mr Weasley?"
The minister nodded. "Yes. George believes conjuring up a false Morsmordre is a little more complex, but still possible."
"So we are obviously dealing with imitators here. But that they don't follow a Dark Lord doesn't mean they're less dangerous. Rather unpredictable."
The Minister nodded again, thoughtfully this time. "Gawain should be here in a moment. Then we can discuss everything else." She reached for her cup of tea, but put it back on the table a moment later without having drunk from it. She looked at Snape, smiled nervously and brushed a curl from her forehead. Although this was her realm, she seemed less self-conscious than when she had visited Hogwarts. Unfortunately, that didn't change his growing affection. Her confidence turned him on, her insecurity touched him.
"I was going to-" she began, but was interrupted when the door opened. Robards stepped into the office, nodded to Hermione, and then dropped unceremoniously into the chair beside Snape.
"So, Mr Snape," he said, forgoing a greeting and crossing one leg over the other. "I've been looking over your observations."
"That took you just three whole days?" asked Snape, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
Robards didn't respond to the provocation. "So you believe it's no coincidence that two of the missing Aurors were there when Kingsley Shacklebolt died?"
"I was just gathering the facts. Whether it was a coincidence or not is your job to find out."
"You also noted that the two Aurors were from abroad," Robards continued, unimpressed. "In your opinion, that makes them suspicious?"
Snape gritted his teeth. Either the man really was an absolute cretin, or he was trying to make him white-knuckle. "No," he replied in an irritated tone. "It is merely an observation."
"I see." Robards drummed his fingers on his thigh. "It's almost impossible for one of our Aurors to betray us; we interrogate them regularly."
"Are you planning to assassinate the Minister? Questions of that nature?"
Robards rolled his eyes. "Something like that, yes."
"And you use Veritaserum for this questioning?" Snape dug deeper.
"No, we're hoping for their honesty." Robards clicked his tongue. "Of course, we are using Veritaserum. Yours, to be precise. Since it's certainly flawless, we would have noticed if any of them were lying."
"For once I agree with you," Snape said, blinking lazily. "Where do you keep the Veritaserum?"
"In a locked chamber," the Minister replied.
"Who has access to that chamber?"
"Gawain and I. And all who know the password."
"And who sets the password?"
"That would be me," Robards said, looking challengingly at Snape. "Does that make me a suspect now?"
Snape regarded the head Auror languidly, then turned back to the Minister. "I'd like to take a look at that Veritaserum."
"As you wish," Robards said, standing up. "I'll get some vials."
"No," Snape replied. "I'd be happy to do that myself. No offence."
"Tss," Robards went on.
"No problem," said the minister, rising as well. "I'll take you there." She gave Robards an apologetic look. "We'll come to your office after we're done."
Robards nodded and disappeared without giving Snape a glance.
Miss Granger sighed. "Interesting exchange. You two could charge admission."
"I don't like him," Snape said, rising from his chair.
"The feeling is apparently mutual," Miss Granger replied, walking to the door. "Gawain has another side too, but something about you seems to rub him the wrong way." She glanced at him over her shoulder. "He wouldn't be the first to feel that way."
"Ouch," Snape said slowly, stepping behind her. She smiled in amusement, then her eyes darted to his lips. Snape felt the blood pumping through his veins. Perhaps if he were here for less serious reasons, he would go for it, press her against the door and repeat what he had done to her at Hogwarts. But the reasons he was here were serious and there was no time for a tryst, nor for getting turned down.
His thoughts were obviously written all over his face because Miss Granger quickly lowered her head and opened the door.
The two Aurors were talking quietly, so Quinn really was just the quiet type, not mute.
"I never introduced you," the Minister said, glancing back and forth between her two protectors and Snape. "Professor, this is Marcus Quinn and Hazel Macnally, my two guardian angels and favourite Aurors."
Quinn tapped his hat in his typical manner, Macnally winked at Snape. He smiled in amusement and bowed his head, barely visible.
"Professor Snape would like to have a look at the Veritaserum."
The Aurors nodded, turned, and led the way, heading for the lift.
Snape and the Minister followed them at a little distance.
"Macnally," Snape said thoughtfully, his voice lowered. "I had a student by that name. Thomas. Slytherin. Are they related?"
"That indeed is your former student," Miss Granger replied, smiling. "She is called Hazel now."
"Ah," Snape went on, not entirely without wonder. "He...she was quite good at Potions." He glanced at the Minister from the side. "You obviously like to surround yourself with people who are...well...special."
"Yes." She returned his gaze and smirked challengingly. "I've noticed that, too."
Snape felt a tug in his stomach. Was she flirting with him?
He would have liked to ask, but they had reached the lift. They entered first, then Quinn and Macnally.
Snape didn't know why lifts had this effect, but he wished he was alone with Miss Granger. He tried to push away the thoughts that were forming in his mind, the idea of what it would be like if he would...
BING. "DEPARTMENT OF MAGICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT!" The doors of the lift opened. They got out and crossed the open-plan office of Auror Headquarters until they stopped in front of a nondescript-looking door. The Minister stepped forward and held her wand in front of the lock. "Chupacabra," she said, whereupon the door opened to reveal a small pantry. Miss Granger stepped inside, Snape following her, then the door closed behind him with a soft click.
Excellent. This entire visit was a test of his self-control and this chamber was the trial by fire.
He avoided looking at the Minister and let his gaze roam over the shelves. If he liked to see Miss Granger more often in the future, he needed to concentrate the hell out of it.
The chamber offered a varied but manageable selection of potions, most of which he had made. The Veritaserum he recognised immediately. He stepped closer to the shelf and examined the good dozen of truth serum. At least from the outside, nothing was visible. He reached for a vial and turned it back and forth between his fingers. It still looked like water. Carefully, he pulled the cork out of the small container and held it under his nose. The smell was also unchanged.
"At first glance, there's nothing amiss," Snape said, repeating his observations to a couple of other vials. "But to be sure, we must test it."
"Would there be any way to alter the serum so that neither the colour nor the smell would change?" the minister asked beside him, looking intently at the vial in his hand.
There she was again, the inquisitive Hermione Granger.
"You tell me," Snape replied.
"There are odourless ingredients, so they would not be noticeable to an odourless potion," she mused aloud. "But any neutralising additives I can think of would affect the colour. Or the taste. At the least, when the Veritaserum was consumed, any of the Aurors not involved in the betrayal would have noticed. Unless, of course, the manipulated Veritaserum, if that even exists, was only ever taken by the mole."
If they were at Hogwarts and if she were still his student and if he were still the man he had been ten years ago, he would have interrupted her monologue long ago. He would have rolled his eyes, reprimanded her for what she had said, and advised her that if she had nothing real to say, she had better not say anything at all.
But now he liked to listen to her. She was less frantic than before, less shrill.
"There would be ways," Snape replied, "though so much effort would not be necessary in this case. You're thinking too hard."
"What do you mean?"
"A colourless, clear and odourless potion, Miss Granger?"
Her eyebrows drew together in concentration, then she glared at him as if she couldn't believe she hadn't come up with the solution sooner. "Of course! Water!"
Snape nodded. "Let us hope that this," he held up the vial, "is not water." He reached into the shelf and picked up another vial. If the Veritaserum had been tampered with, they needed to know if it affected the whole supply.
"Do you regret it?" he heard Miss Granger suddenly beside him.
Snape didn't have to ask what she meant. Nor did he have to think. The only thing that kept him from answering directly was that he was unsure how much he wanted to reveal about himself. Of course, he didn't regret sleeping with her. He would do it again on the spot, even here, in this chamber. But he regretted what it might have cost them. The light-heartedness between them. And the tea.
"If it makes it any easier for you to answer," Miss Granger interrupted his thoughts, "I don't regret it."
Snape wished he knew more about women. He wished he could decode her words. Was she trying to tell him that everything was fine between them, that he had nothing to worry about? Or was she implying that she, too, would not mind repeating it?
"There are many things I regret," he finally replied. "The...outcome of your visit is not one of them." He didn't look at her as he said this, because Potter had been right, he was a coward. He told himself that he wanted to spare her the embarrassment of the moment, in truth, of course, he was the one who couldn't handle whatever would be reflected in Miss Granger's expression.
"I think half a dozen vials to choose from should be enough," he said, turning towards the door. He had to get out of this chamber before he did anything stupid.
*
When they entered Robard's office, the head Auror was sitting at his desk, leafing through a file as if looking for something. Snape walked over to him and pushed a vial in front of him. "Drink."
"Me?" Robards screwed up his face questioningly. "Why not you?"
Snape raised an eyebrow. "I'm...immune, in a way."
"Oh, indeed," Robards grumbled, snatching the vial from his hand.
"Try to lie," Snape said with a thin smile.
"I know how Veritaserum works, thank you." Robards pulled the cork from the vial, set it down, and dripped several drops into his mouth. He swallowed visibly and looked impatiently at Snape. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and waited a moment. Partly because he wanted to give the Veritsaerum time to take effect, partly because he wanted to get on Robards' nerves a little.
"What do you think of me?" he finally asked.
"I appreciate and adore you," Robards replied. Then he slammed his fist angrily on the table. "Damn!"
"I suppose that was obvious," Snape said. "Unless that's your way of expressing appreciation and adoration."
"You think that's funny, Snape?"
"Try another," the Minister said urgently.
Snape handed him another vial. Robards drank its contents as well.
"Are you glad the Minister consulted me on this case?"
"Absolutely! In fact, it was my idea!" Robards' face contorted into an angry grimace and he rose. He reached for another vial, drank it completely empty, and glared impatiently at Snape.
"What was the name of the previous Headmistress of Hogwarts?"
"Celestina Warbeck." There was a soft crack. Robards had crushed the empty vial in his hand. When he opened it, the palm was bloody.
"Gawain," Miss Granger sighed, drawing her wand. "Episkey." The wound closed.
"Water?" she asked, addressing Snape, deep lines of worry on her forehead.
"Probably," Snape replied. "I will take some samples to be sure. In the meantime, you should destroy the entire supply."
Robards slumped back into his chair and buried his forehead in his hands.
"It takes four weeks to brew new Veritaserum, right?" asked Miss Granger.
"Yes. But I still have a few vials at Hogwarts. I will bring them to you."
"Thank you." Miss Granger glanced at Robards. "Gawain, however this happened, it's not your fault."
"This is a disaster," Robards said wearily. "Something like this should never have happened on my watch. I am responsible for the Aurors, I know them best."
"Betrayal is painful because it is never expected," Snape said.
"If a traitor says such a thing, it must be true," Robards growled. Then he sighed. "I'm sorry. It...has been a long day. And a long week."
Snape said nothing in response. He still didn't like Robards, but he didn't blame him for the assassination either. For now.
"We'll leave you to it," Miss Granger said. "Get some rest, there's nothing you can do while the Aurors are on the mission anyway."
Robards smiled bitterly. "It's my job to tell you that. And I'm not going to abide by it any more than you are."
"It wasn't a request," Miss Granger said kindly but firmly, "it was an order."
Snape clenched his hands into fists. Fucking. Hell.
Robards smiled, surrendered. "As you wish, Minister."
Miss Granger returned his smile, then looked at Snape and nodded at him. Together they left the Head Auror's office.
"Does Robards always lose his temper so quickly?" asked Snape, addressing the Minister.
"No. I guess he has his reasons."
"You guess or you know?"
"When can you bring the Veritaserum over?" retorted Miss Granger, without answering his question.
"Tomorrow. If you need it earlier, you can always contact me."
"Even at night?" asked Miss Granger.
"Even at night," he replied.
"Thank you, Severus."
"Minister." Snape nodded. It was only the second time she had called him by his first name and it turned out he liked it.
"You may use the lift," Miss Granger continued, "I have spent enough time in my office for today."
"I'm reassured to hear that you won't be spending the night there."
She shook her head. "Merlin, no, I have a room. Here, on this floor."
Snape nodded again. The Minister brushed a curl from her forehead. They looked at each other.
A few feet away, Quinn and Macnally were engaged in a quiet conversation.
"Have a restful evening," Snape said, because one of them had to say something. Then he headed for the lift. His footsteps echoed in the otherwise empty corridor.
"Professor?" he suddenly heard Miss Granger's voice again. He stopped and turned around.
"Fancy another tea?"