CHAPTER 66
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 66 ~ An Attempt at Restoration
Eros saw Hermione’s childhood, her focus on things intellectual rather than romantic. How she had never loved a wizard before Severus. He also saw the witch was full of love…Harry the prime example. Her love for her friend never faded and she never gave up on him. He looked further. Hm. The witch was so dedicated she was willing to kiss…ugh…were those Dementors? Diana’s crooked bow. That was the nastiest thing he had ever seen. The god shuddered.
Eros pulled out of Hermione’s mind and looked at her.
“You certainly are a brave mortal. Rather twisted, but definitely brave. I find you worthy of love,” the god said.
Hermione let out a sigh of relief. Eros was going to help her.
“Oh thank you, Eros, thank you so much,” she said to the god who looked at Finder.
“What would you have of me to retrieve the mortal’s soul?” Eros asked him.
Finder didn’t even have to think about it. He had a dream for many millennia.
“I want to be free of the Summons,” the demon said, “I’m tired of battling for mortals. Even though I reap some benefit, it is still hard, painful work…not to mention such service alienates me from other demons. I want to be beholden to no other than myself,” the demon said in his chorus of voices.
“Ah, an independent demon. Yes, I can see that, Finder. Very well. Retrieve the wizard’s soul and bring it to this witch and I will free you from the Summons for all eternity,” Eros replied. Finder grinned horrendously. He would hack those two old geezers into tiny bits for this reward.
“I go,” Finder said.
The demon disappeared in a flash of flame and black smoke.
“Drama king,” Eros snorted as he turned to Hermione and looked her up and down.
“What do we do now?” she asked the handsome god.
Eros arched an eyebrow at her.
“If not for the nature of our acquaintance, I would make love to you several times while we waited. But, that would ruin your faithful love for the wizard. Plus, once you’ve made love with an immortal, you can never go back to mortal men,” the gods said, his golden eyes glittering at the witch. Then he asked, “Do you play Snap?”
Hermione nodded and Eros summoned up a deck of cards and they sat down at the table.
“I haven’t lost a game of Snap in over a thousand years,” Eros said, matter-of-factly as he dealt the card. “Losing displeases me very much.”
A little crack of thunder accompanied this remark. Hermione understood immediately. Gods hated to be bested by mortals in anything. It brought out their jealousy.
“I have a feeling your skills are much greater than mine,” the witch replied, “I have no hope of beating you.”
Eros gave her a benevolent smile. The mortal wasn’t so stupid after all.
They began to play.
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The two old demons sat in a small cave, a bonfire before them, souls shackled to the stone walls surrounding them dejectedly. Screaming on the floor beside them was a soul whose eye sockets were empty and bleeding. The demons had her eyeballs on sticks and were roasting them in the fire. Cries could be heard outside the cave.
Behind them, a tall pole was inserted in the ground. At the top of it was Severus’ soul, tied like flag and flapping. It was like a two dimensional painting of the wizard on vellum, the eyes closed and pale hands crossed over his chest.
“I thought for sure he’d gotten away from us, Barth,” one demon said, turning his eyeball carefully so it would be equally browned.
“I know Garth, but you know mortals. They are complete idiots,” Barth replied, looking up at Severus’ soul. “He’s going to be a lot of fun to torment. I’m going to keep him in the fire.”
Garth nodded, smiling wickedly.
“Maybe we can speed up his demise,” he said.
Barth frowned at him.
“Now Garth, you know that’s against the rules of the Ministry of Demonic Affairs,” the demon said, taking his eyeball out of the fire and examining it before returning it to the flame. He liked his eyeballs crisp, the juicy middle slightly congealed.
Garth gave an evil grin, which showed some missing fangs.
“They’re so wrapped up in red tape, they’d never notice. They haven’t even completed the paperwork for “The Fall” yet,” the demon said.
Barth cackled. “You’re right you know.”
Garth nodded and pulled his eyeball out the flame. It was perfect.
The demon was about to take a bite when suddenly a great roaring filled the cave. He dropped his eyeball.
“Damn it,” the demon hissed, rising to his feet along with Barth, both facing the cave entrance.
“Who is it?” Barth demanded.
“Finder,” a chorus of voices replied as the elephant-headed demon strode into the cave, brandishing his sword. “I’ve come for the wizard’s soul.”
“What?” both demons cried, taking up defensive positions around the flagpole. “We just got him. We aren’t about to give him up.”
”Listen, there’s a lot at stake for this wizard. I’m not going to try to negotiate this. I’d rather hack you little bastards into a thousand pieces and take him. It would be faster. You know how painful that is,” Finder replied, taking a threatening step forward.
Barth looked at Garth, who nodded his head.
“Very well Finder, take him then,” Barth said, he and Garth stepping aside.
Finder strode up to the flagpole and was about to hack it down when both Barth and Garth hit him with blasts of black light, the demon roaring in pain.
“That’ll teach you to pick on demons half your size,” Garth cackled as the demon writhed. But Finder was stronger than they thought and threw off the black light, which enveloped both demons, who screamed in pain.
“Why you little…” Finder hissed, striding forward, his sword raised high.
A few minutes later, Finder and Severus’ soul were gone. Pieces of the hacked and diced demons wriggled all around the cave floor. A little piece of flesh with a mouth attached spoke.
“Maybe we should have let him just take the soul, Garth. It’s going to be days before we reform,” Barth’s mouth said.
Garth couldn’t answer him. His tongue was separated from his mouth, and writhed helplessly. All around them, the shackled souls were smiling. The woman whose eyes were ripped out was sitting up, new eyeballs already starting to form.
At least they’d have a few days of respite. And to the lost souls, that was like a bit of heaven.
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Hermione and Eros played Snap for about two hours before Finder returned to his pentacle. Eros was in an excellent mood, having soundly trounced Hermione game after game, boasting of his skill and how a mortal could never best him. Hermione found the god of love handsome, but a braggart and extremely vain.
Finder shook the bag at them.
“I’ve got the soul, Eros,” Finder announced.
“Let’s see it,” the god of love said, rising from the table and walking up to the pentacle, followed by Hermione.
Finder reached into the bag and removed what looked like a rolled parchment. He shook it out and Severus’ image appeared, eyes closed and arms crossing his chest as if in repose.
Hermione stared at it.
“It looks like a photo,” she breathed.
“It’s not,” Eros said, reaching for the soul. Finder jerked it back.
“First, my reward,” Finder demanded, his red eyes glittering at the god.
Eros scowled at him.
“What do you think I am? Some reneging demon?” the god asked him severely.
“Just better safe than sorry, Eros,” Finder replied, still holding Severus’ soul protectively.
The god frowned, but thrust forward his hands, bathing the demon in golden light, smirking as Finder screamed horribly. Finally he stopped, the demon dropping to his knees, panting.
“You’re free,” Eros said, “Now hand the soul to the witch.”
Still panting, Finder thrust Severus’ soul outside the circle.
“Don’t touch the demon. Grab the soul from the bottom and yank it away,” Eros instructed the witch.
Obviously, Finder was not to be trusted. Hermione did as the god directed, Severus’ soul dangling from her hands, lighter than parchment. Suddenly, it glowed golden, and Hermione felt a comforting warmth wash over her. Severus’ love.
The light faded.
“Roll it up and put it in your pocket, then banish Finder. Otherwise he will be let loose on the earth,” Eros said.
Hermione gingerly rolled Severus’ soul up until it resembled a scroll, then stuck it in her robes pocket. Then she did the banishing spell on Finder, who was still on his knees when the black smoke rolled over him. He disappeared with a chorus of roars.
“Now, we must go to your wizard, and you must reinsert his soul. It won’t be hard. The moment it is unrolled in his presence, it will be sucked back into his body,” Eros said, grabbing the witch and lifting her in his arms.
“My, you’re curvaceous,” he purred into her ear.
“We need to go to Hogwarts castle,” she said. “But there are wards…”
”No mortal ward can keep out a god. We aren’t demons,” Eros said disdainfully.
He and Hermione became insubstantial, and the god winged upward, through the ceiling, out of the ground and soared at an amazing speed up into the clouds, holding the witch securely as they flew.
“Better than a broom,” the god said, “Much more cozy.”
Hermione added “flirt” to the god’s shortcomings. Obviously, men weren’t the only sentient beings created imperfect. Still the god had done her and Severus a great kindness.
“Thank you for helping us, Eros,” she said to the god.
“It was done in the name of love, or in other words, my name. I want to see that wizard of yours in a loving relationship. He was one of the most unlikely mortals to ever know love. His succumbing to it is quite a coup,” Eros replied as Hogwarts came into view.
They soared down through the castle walls and into the dungeons. Hermione directed Eros to Severus’ private rooms. The god set her down and looked around.
“Another library?” he said, eyeing all the books in Severus’ study, “He seems as much a bookworm as you are.”
“He likes books,” Hermione agreed. She was nervous being in the wizard’s rooms after the way he had received her.
Eros looked at her.
“Be brave. Love will find a way,” he said to the witch. “Now, I’ve already blessed you two once. Don’t fuck it up this time.”
With that, Eros faded out and returned to his citadel to watch the rest of the show.
Severus was in Potions class. It might be some time before the wizard actually came to his rooms. Hermione sat down in one of his armchairs facing the fire, staring into the flames. Presently, she fell asleep.
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“What the hell are you doing in my rooms!” Severus roared.
Hermione woke up with a start to find the pale wizard hovering over her in the armchair, his face contorted with anger and his fists clenched against his sides. His black eyes were filled with rage.
“I made it clear I want nothing to do with you witch! You have violated my space and my privacy. Now, how did you get in here?” he snarled at her.
Hermione looked up at Severus not knowing what to say. Suddenly the wizard’s hand shot out and caught her by the wrist, yanking her out of the chair.
“As you know, Miss Granger, trespassing on Hogwarts grounds is a punishable offense. Since you do not understand what ‘leave me alone’ means, I will have to report this violation to Albus and insist you be prosecuted,” the dark wizard said, his eyes glinting with malice. “Maybe then you’ll understand I mean business.”
He began to drag Hermione toward the study wall. The witch fumbled in her pocket with her free hand and pulled out the rolled up soul. It glowed golden again. Severus stopped and looked at her.
“What is that?” he snarled.
Hermione shook the soul out so Severus could see his own image. Startled, the wizard let her go.
“What is that?” he asked her again.
“Your soul,” the witch said in a low voice, “I got it back for you.”
Severus stared at her a moment. Suddenly a powerful wind and thunder sounded as the soul tore from Hermione’s hand and plastered itself to Severus body, the wizard clawing at it as it covered his face and frame a moment, then sunk in, disappearing. Severus’ body began to shudder powerfully, the wizard’s eyes rolling up into his head as his head snapped back.
Hermione watched as Severus continued to shudder for several minutes. Finally, his trembling stopped and his head dropped forward, the Potions Master panting, his eyes closed.
Hermione stood there, her heart pounding. Was he still going to throw her out?
Severus’ eyes opened, the hardness gone from his face. He looked at Hermione, blinking. He caught her hand roughly.
“How?” he demanded, “How did you do this?”
“I…I used the library. I summoned a demon to retrieve it,” Hermione began.
Severus blinked at her.
“No. No, Hermione…tell me you didn’t sacrifice your soul for mine, you crazy Gryffindor,” his eyes beginning to glisten. “I’m not worth that…”
”I was willing to, but I didn’t. The demon wanted a go at me to retrieve it,” the witch said.
Severus went several shades whiter. He spun the witch, looking her all over then spun her back. Demons were monsters in more ways than one…had Hermione gave herself to one of those cursed creatures for him?
“You…you didn’t,” he asked her, clutching her other hand now.
“No. The god of love intervened. He said you falling in love was a coup. He promised the demon something else he wanted, and the demon retrieved your soul and gave it to me. Then Eros brought me here to put your soul back,” the witch said softly, “I couldn’t let you be damned for eternity, Severus. I love you too much. If I had to be damned to save you, I was willing. You had to be restored. You just had to be.”
Severus stared down at the witch for a moment, then suddenly crushed her to him so tightly Hermione felt she couldn’t breathe. Yet, if she were going to die, there was no better place to meet her demise than the wizard’s arms.
“Dear gods I thought I had lost you forever witch,” he breathed, relaxing his hold on her and looking down at her.
“No, Severus. I was always here. I’m so sorry you thought I didn’t want to marry you. I do. I was just in shock,” she said.
Severus stared at her.
“Now we have time, witch. There’s no rush for our nuptials. As long as I know you will keep yourself for me, then I am willing to wait until you are ready. But I need to know, Hermione…will you marry me? Tell me witch,” the wizard breathed.
He wanted no more misunderstandings.
“Yes, Severus. I couldn’t imagine spending my life with anyone else,” the witch replied.
Severus eyes glittered down at her for a moment, then he swooped Hermione up into his arms and strode toward his bedroom.
“Let’s just seal this deal,” he purred, kicking the door open with his foot and sliding through, Hermione pushing it closed behind them.
Several hours later, an exhausted Hermione lay in a sleeping Severus’ arms, tired but unable to sleep as the wizard held her tightly against him.
She had almost lost the wizard. Almost.
From his citadel, Eros watched the couple with satisfaction. They had several vigorous and very entertaining rounds of make-up sex which Eros had enjoyed immensely. He’d be looking in on them again during the honeymoon. The god waved his hand toward Hermione and the witch immediately dropped off to sleep.
Eros lay back on his duvet with a satisfied smile.
“Who says Love doesn’t conquer all?” the god said to himself as he closed his eyes, “It sure whipped that mortal. Severus Snape in love. What a coup.”
He’d have plenty to brag about at the consortium of the gods tomorrow. The Potions Master was quite well known to most of them. Until now, it was the Fates who talked about him the most, since they had twisted his life to be utterly miserable. He was deemed to be the most miserable example of a mortal in the wizarding world.
Well, this would put a little snag in their tapestry. They wouldn’t be allowed to interfere with his happiness any longer. Once love took over, they had to respect it. Oh, that one eye the old crones passed around was going to be very, very narrow.
Eros chuckled at the thought of it. The couple’s life together was assured. As far as Eros was concerned, this was as happy an ending as Severus Snape could get.
He was one lucky, lucky wizard to have found a witch like Hermione Granger to love.
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A/N: Ah, love conquers all. Those dirty fates, making Severus’ life miserable on purpose. Well, our Potions Master is in the clear now. Love’s won out. Stay tuned for the final chapter/epilogue. Please review.