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A PERFECT MATCH

Chapter 17: Preparing for battle

Dumbledore asked all Hogwarts’ staff to come to his office for a meeting. He informed them about Draco’s condition and talked about the potion Snape and Hermione had been working on. Those who hadn’t been aware of the nature of this potion were highly surprised and McGonagall looked as happy as possible under the circumstances.

The course of action for next Saturday was discussed. Early morning, someone had to take the potion to Voldemort at the Malfoy Mansion. Preferably, this person was to witness with his or her own eyes that Voldemort actually drank this potion. Then this person should return to Hogwarts so Harry could alert the other Aurors to engage their attack on the Mansion. By then, the Death Eaters would all be present for the initiation and this was their only chance to wipe them out completely.

A lot could go wrong. Everyone agreed on that, but there were no other options. In the mean time, the teachers would assure none of the students left Hogwarts, certainly not on Saturday. Dumbledore would announce that all students should remain in their common rooms that day. Hopefully all those precautions would prove to be unnecessary, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

It was way in the afternoon when life at Hogwarts was back to normal. Snape had gone back to check on Draco and returned to Dumbledore’s office, saying he didn’t seem to be in any pain anymore and was in a deep sleep. Only Hermione, Snape and Dumbledore remained in the office. They had to determine who would take the potion to Voldemort.

 

“Naturally it will be me.” Snape concluded.

“I know where he keeps his potion and if I use the invisibility cloak, no one will see me.”

 

Hermione did not agree and fear for his safety could be heard in her voice when she pleaded:

 

“You cannot go ! Voldemort will surely sense your presence and if he or one of the Death Eaters finds you, they’ll kill you for sure !”

 

“They won’t find me and if they kill me after I switched the potions, the mission will be successful.” On hearing these last words, Hermione opened her mouth to let out a cry but her emotions prevented her from saying anything and only a rasping sound came out.

 

“Severus, I can see Hermione’s point. You cannot be sure you won’t be discovered before you have the opportunity to switch the potions and if Voldemort sees you there, he will most likely be suspicious about your reasons for being there and probably will not drink his potion.”

 

“Then what do you suggest ?”

 

Dumbledore started “Well, I could …” but was interrupted by Hermione.

 

“Let ME go. I can use the cloak too and if Severus tells me where the potion is stored I can switch them and hide to see whether he drinks it.”

 

The look of terror on Snape’s face was only a faint reflection of the paralysing agony sliding through his body like a snake wrapping itself around his heart in a suffocating grip.

 

“No !!!” He screamed. “ I will not allow you to do this.”

 

Dumbledore didn’t seem to notice the underlying emotions both volunteers were experiencing and stayed calm.

 

“Severus, I think Hermione might have a chance. She has as much of a chance as you do to remain undetected but in case of discovery, Voldemort will not see her as a threat and will not kill her immediately. And since he does not know her, he will not know what she is doing there. Statistically, her mission is more likely to succeed than yours.”

 

“This is not a good plan. It has too many flaws in it. How can we be sure the potions are switched ? After my last encounter with Voldemort in the Mansion, he made it impossible to apparate there, so there are no means to escape in case of detection.”

 

“Yes, there will be a fair amount of risk involved, but we’ve always known that and I’m sure Hermione is well aware of it. Don’t underestimate the Gryffindor courage, Severus !” Dumbledore gave a faint smile. “However, we can send back-up if she’s not back before the ceremony begins.”

 

“By then it can be too late !” Snape felt Dumbledore had cornered him and was desperately trying to find more arguments to support his point of view. He would do anything to prevent Hermione from going to that place.

 

“I’m prepared to take the risk.” Hermione’s calm determination took Snape’s breath away. He looked at her in despair, his eyes begging her to reconsider.

 

“If you’re so keen on sacrificing a life, then I suggest you take mine. I’m familiar with Voldemort’s cruel games and I can withstand him long enough to accomplish the task.”

 

“No Severus, because of your dark mark, you are linked to Voldemort and I’m sure he’ll sense your presence before you can do anything. He hates you so much, he will not torture you but kill you instantly. Then where would we be ? Besides, I don’t think Voldemort would want to miss the opportunity to show off in front of an adversary he considers no threat. My guess is, and I’m sure knowing Voldemort you will agree, he will force Hermione to witness the initiation before he tries to hurt her. If it were to come to that, we WILL send a rescue team.”

 

Snape knew Dumledore was right. He sighed deeply, knowing he couldn’t win from both Dumbledore and Hermione.

 

Snape and Dumbledore went to Hagrid’s house once more to check how Draco was doing. At first Hermione would go with them so she could join Snape in the dungeon afterwards, but when she saw Remus and Sirius by the lake, she decided to go and talk to them instead.

 

“Hermione, how nice of you to drop by ! I hope you’ll still want to speak to us after you receive your Order of Merlin.” Sirius gave her a big smile.

 

“Oh, I don’t think …” Hermione blushed.

 

“Don’t be so modest my dear, you and Severus have truly proved to be the perfect combination.” Did she imagine things or did Remus just wink at her ? Apparently Sirius hadn’t noticed anything, although he turned to Remus saying:

“Didn’t you have some marking to do ?”

Remus sighed and walked to the castle, leaving Sirius alone with Hermione. She suddenly felt a little awkward and tried not to show her uneasiness.

 

“Tell me, does Saturday’s events mean our date is off ?” Sirius asked.

 

“Err, about that. Remus and I were thinking of waiting until Harry can join us. He’ll have a lot of work to do if our mission succeeds on Saturday. I suspect it won’t be until Christmas that I’ll get the chance to see Hogsmeade again.”

 

“Harry, Harry, who needs Harry ! Girl, these young boys are no good for a woman of your brilliance. Boys are a fair bit behind in their development compared to girls, you know. Don’t you ever long for the companionship of a mature man, who can guide you through life and show you things you’ve never even dared dreaming about ?” He tried to move his arm around her, slowly closing the space between them. Hermione pulled back a little.

 

“Sirius, please don’t say those things !” her voice broke when she tried to squirm from his grip.

 

“Sweet Hermione, all work and no play, you must allow yourself to relax sometime.” Laughing, like he was dealing with a disobedient child, he grabbed her tight.

 

“No Sirius, I …” She began to panic.

 

“Black! Has your animagus drool blocked your ear or are you simply too stuck up to hear the lady say she isn’t interested ?” Snape’s trademark sarcasm had never been so welcome to her.

 

For a moment it looked like both wizards would tear each other to pieces, but Hermione prevented this by pushing Snape towards the castle, talking rapidly: “Oh, look at the time, we should be stirring the potion right now !” Snape gave Sirius another menacing look, but let himself be dragged away by her without protest.

 

When they entered the dungeon, they found themselves alone for the first time since Ginny interrupted their moment of passion. Seeing the scrolls of parchment and quills on the floor gave them an instant reminder of what happened earlier that day.

Hermione began picking up the mess they made when Snape stopped her.

 

“Hermione, we need to talk.” He sounded a bit insecure.

 

She kept collecting the scrolls and murmured: “Right, so you can tell me again it didn’t mean anything and it was all a mistake.”

 

Snape placed his hand on her shoulder and turned her around. There were tears in her eyes but she managed to push them back, ready to face another rejection.

 

“No, Hermione, not quite.” She looked up at him, hopeful.

 

“After what happened, I can no longer pretend it didn’t mean anything.” He sighed deeply. “But I still believe it was a mistake and I intend to fight this attraction with all my might.”

 

Hermione felt like she just scored a little victory, at least he was willing to face it ! But she didn’t had him where she wanted him yet.

“Why do you keep calling it a mistake ?”

 

“For several reasons. First of all because I am not the right partner for you, ask anyone, they’ll agree.” He tried to joke about it, but she felt his pain when he put himself down like that.

 

“I’m not asking for everyone’s consent. The only opinion that counts is mine, and I think I’ve made that quite clear to you.” She was amazed how they were able to analyse their situation rationally and relaxed.

 

“It’s not just that. You see, when I saved Harry from Voldemort, my life came to an end. Maybe not technically, but that’s only a formality. Some day, some Death Eater will find me regardless Dumbledore’s protection, but I can live with that. However, if word would spread that I have developed a special interest in a certain young witch, you can be sure they will harm you just to get to me. That I cannot live with.” While talking to her, he had taken her hands in his and looked into her eyes.

“Please Hermione, you cannot ask me to begin a relationship with you. By doing so I would sign your death sentence. We HAVE to try and keep our emotions under control.”

 

His emotional plead moved her deeply. She was lost for words for a moment, understanding now why he had tried to push her away. However, this didn’t mean she had to accept it.

 

“What if we defeat Voldemort on Saturday ?”

 

“I so hope we will win. And I would love to think it will change everything, but even if Voldemort is dead, I will never be reassured. There always might be a Death Eater that manages to save himself. The risk …”

 

“Severus, now you are exaggerating. I appreciate your concern for my wellbeing, but please don’t look for excuses to get out of a commitment. If you don’t want that kind of relationship, I will not push you.” She meant every word and tried very hard not to become angry with him.

 

“It’s not the commitment that I fear, I don’t want to trap you. It would be better for you to find someone else.”

 

“We’re moving around in circles here, I thought we agreed you would let ME be the judge of that.” He could be so irritating at times !

 

“You don’t understand, there are certain things I just cannot give you …”

 

“Name one. And don’t say ‘romance’ because I don’t give a damn about Valentines or flowers or all that other mushy stuff.”

 

“Children.” He whispered. “I cannot give you children.”

 

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