Hold on Tight
‘Crookshanks! Crooks! Croooooooks!’ The panicked voice of Alina Petrel echoed noisily in the dungeons of Slytherin House.
Ebe—Ebenezer Sibly-Style—came up for air from his Potions essay. ‘What’s wrong, Ali?’
‘Her— Mrs. Snape’s cat! I was supposed to watch him for the weekend, while they are gone. And now HE is gone, too!’ Her lower lip was trembling. ‘I promised to take care of him. And now he’s disappeared and they haven’t even been gone two hours!’
‘Shit,’ her friend said succinctly. ‘Where have you seen him last?’
‘I’m not sure. He explored the common room for a while, then he curled up on my bed. I still have that essay to write for Professor McGonagall, and when I was halfway through, I thought I’d take a look to see if Crooks was all right or if he wanted food or something…and he was gone!’
Ebe did his best thoughtful scowl, tracing his lips with the fingertip of his right forefinger. Alina rolled her eyes. He was taking things a bit far regarding his imitation of their Head of House. If Professor Snape ever caught that, Ebe would probably spend the rest of the term in detention, scrubbing cauldrons and pickling frog-brains.
‘We need to search the house at once,’ he said decisively. ‘He’s a half-kneazle, right? So Summoning Charms are out.’
Alina nodded. Oh God, this couldn’t be happening. Not to her. Hermione had trusted her!
Ebe was already approaching the Seventh Year prefect, Ciardha Vaisey. ‘Sir? We have a problem…’
oooOooo
‘Don’t be afraid,’ Severus said in a low voice. ‘Just hold on tight.’
The CRACK of the Apparition was the loudest Hermione had heard so far, and the blackness that engulfed her seemed endless, although it probably didn’t last more than a few seconds. But these seconds were terrifying enough—existence without a body, being trapped neither here nor there, unable to breathe, to feel.
Then she was in his arms again, his lips kissably close, his eyes piercing as if he could look right into her heart.
Severus seemed reluctant to let her go. As far as Hermione was concerned, she would have been happy to keep standing in his embrace a while longer, wherever they were.
…wherever they were?
‘Where are we?’ she asked. Drawing away from him, she turned around in an astonished circle, gasping at the façade of a huge church looming up above them. ‘We’re not in Britain anymore, are we? That’s why you asked me to wear Muggle clothes!’
‘Excellent deduction, Miss Granger, however did you notice?’ Severus sneered. ‘As a matter of fact, we are in France.’
‘It’s Mrs. Snape,’ she retorted. ‘And I knew that. People speaking French and street signs in French are rather a clue. Also, the Apparition noise was louder than usual.—I didn’t know you could do cross-channel Apparition.’ She tried not to frown. She did trust him implicitly.
‘Relax, Mrs. Snape,’ he murmured. ‘While I wouldn’t dare cross-continental Side-along Apparition if it wasn’t absolutely necessary, you are quite safe with me within Europe.’
‘You’ve done cross-continental Apparition?’ Hermione gaped at her husband.
He nodded with a small smirk. ‘Apparition is about power and concentration. I have both.’
‘Hmm.’ That much was obvious. ‘Where exactly in France are we? And why have you brought me here?’
‘This is the cathedral of Chartres. One of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in France. Famous for its stained glass windows and their exceptionally vivid blue colour. Come, let’s have a look inside.’
She glanced at him sideways. ‘I get to wear jeans and you remain dressed like a priest? Severus, if you so much as look at me while you’re dressed like that, people will be shocked!’
He quirked an eyebrow, but pulled his wand from his sleeve. A quick, surreptitious gesture, and Severus stood next to her in blue jeans and a black shirt.
‘Better?’
Hermione stared at him, flabbergasted. ‘Who are you? And what have you done to Severus Snape?’
‘Maybe I simply want to ensure that I have all the opportunity to ‘look’ at you while we are here that I can get—without arousing any undue suspicion?’ he asked silkily, his voice sending a shiver down her spine.
oooOooo
The interior of the cathedral was very dark. The high, angular ceilings were lost in shadows, and twilight obscured the views of the long aisles. Incense filled the air.
Hermione thought that they must have entered the church not long after the end of a service. Several persons were still kneeling in the pews, mostly old women dressed in black, and there were only few tourists wandering around, peering into chapels and staring up at the windows.
Severus moved along without a noise beside her and Hermione felt the urge to walk on tiptoes, even though her sneakers barely made a sound on the flag stones.
She could barely remember the last time she had been in a church. As a child she had gone to church with her mother every Sunday. But then she had received her letter. And everything had changed. Uncomfortably, Hermione hugged herself, then hid her shaking hands inside her jeans-pockets. Why had she stopped going to church? Obviously at Hogwarts that was impossible, but she could have gone in the holidays.
‘Keep those hands out of your pockets,’ Severus hissed. ‘Show some respect.’
Hermione jumped. Her hands icy, her face on fire, she ducked her head. ‘Sorry, s— I’m sorry.’
He nodded, and gestured to move on to the eastern end of the cathedral.
‘This part of the cathedral is normally called ‘apses’ and if it is accessible, an ‘ambulatory apses’. In this case, the correct term, however, is ‘chevet’ due to the radiating chapels built around the ‘head’ of the cathedral,’ Severus explained in a low voice. ‘Come, let us sit down in the nave for a while. I believe there’s a choir practice scheduled in a few minutes. I think you may enjoy listening.’
Oh, Chartres cathedral! What a perfect destination!
I visited there in high school when on the exchange program. It was the first cathedral I ever visited, and I shall never forget the feeling of amazement!
They are working on restoring the windows at the moment. I think they will be done in 2011/2012 … can’t wait to see it again then, all bright like at the time it was built.
I loved your story… so far. But Severus Snape in a church? Oh my, quite OOC, but OK, he needed someone to talk to, so I drop the topic.
BUt this punishment for Alina is rather brutal. And for what? That a half-Keazle cat disappeared for two days? C’mooooon…. And Ginny was standing there and watching? What happened to your characters? They were sooo perfect! Especially Snape, and now this chatedral, or church, or whatever…
Ok, I’ll read on, just wanted to tell my thoughts.
Thank you for spending time with my story. Thank you even more for taking the time to leave a comment! I’m glad you enjoy it so far.
Why shouldn’t Snape visit a church? And where in canon does it say he wouldn’t? 😉
Re: Alina’s punishment – I’d be shocked if you didn’t think it harsh!
However … even at “Muggle” boarding schools traditions of hazing and punishment among students are incredibly cruel and harsh in real life. JKR chose to ignore that part of public school tradition; I decided against that. The shock and revulsion you (hopefully) feel are quite intentional.
Please feel free to offer your thoughts any time, I’m always curious about what my readers think. Even if I don’t agree with them. 😉
Oh, don’t get me wrong! Of course it is not impossible for him to go a place like a church, I just feel like it’s wierd.
And as for Alina, yes, I felt shock. That was oh, ‘harsh’ is not the right word. But the most shocking thing was that Ginny was standing there and watching, without a word.
So I was relieved when she told the whole thing to Hermione.
And that part with McGonagoll, and keep your stupid cup, LOL 😀 Loved that.
That’s fine, really. 🙂 I am trying to portray Severus as a character with unexpected depths, after all.
I have read your story on fanfiction.net a while back but I really like this version better. it gives a lot more… structure? character? feeling? to the story.. I am unable to describe the exact thing.. but still.
Good work all around..
I am thrilled that you’re enjoying the way I present my story here! And what a wonderful compliment that you came back to read it again. w00t
I love Chartres Cathedral. I wrote a paper on it for Art History class and found that the Masons built many esoteric features into it. When I actually was fortunate enough to visit it in person, it had a spiritual effect on me. I visited many other cathedrals in France that trip, and none of them made me feel the way that one did.
I’m so glad Severus took Hermione there. Still not sure why he would, but your Severus seems full of surprises. I’m sure, given time, he will grow to love her as much as she does him. He is well on his way already.
Great story.
Chartres is amazing. 🙂
Re: Severus – in canon he always struck me as a man of many (surprising) secrets. So I enjoyed giving him a few more in my story!
I have never seen the Chatres Cathedral, but I have seen other cathedrals and can imagine the feeling this one can give you. Loved the pictures.
So, Alina is a Necromancer, whatever that is. I hope I don’t need more information than you give within this story. (I don’t know the books you refer there.)
That punishment was really harsh and unusual, but I can see this within the HP universe, even if it was never described. The HP universe has a lot of really cruel customs. I remember how shocked I was at the outcome of the Triwizard tournament. I think this fits with the feeling the House of Slytherin gave me as portrayed in the books.
What is a half kneazel? You just need to know cats to know they can vanish for days without anyone finding them. The castle is big and Crookshanks had years to explore the thing. It seems the students don’t know cats very well 😉 . But I can imagine how desperate poor Alina was when she noticed the cat was missing. From there on everything just spun out of control. I just hope that this incident plus the bell incident didn’t cost Alina her Slytherin friends. She needs friends in school and not just friends in other houses or among the staff.
Necromancers (the manifestation of Sauron in Dol Guldur was called a Necromancer, too) are wizards with a special affinity for the dead, to put it simply. They can talk to the dead or control zombies … depends on the interpretation, really. I was fascinated with the world-building in the “Abhorsen” books, and in conjunction with some HP death magic (like the Veil), it seemed to me an interesting AU angle to explore.
Re: the punishment, yes, yes, yes, exactly! This is one of the scenes that usually leaves readers totally shocked. But based on what I know about “normal” hazing in Muggle British public schools, I think Slytherin must have been ten times worse. And isn’t it how those things usually go? Good intentions all around and suddenly you’re sitting in a handbasket and it’s getting awfully hot and the air smells of sulphur …
Kneazles: http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Kneazle
(I think they show that JKR doesn’t really know cats, because they are like that and do all that stuff without any magic, thank you very much. 😉 )
Beautiful. As is the rest of this novel, but this was so unexpected! Looking forward to the whole unchartered territory ahead of our newlyweds.
20 years? It’s high time I saw Chartres again, and took my son (it’s ridiculously near my usual place).
And I’ll go on minding my h’s 😉
Thank you for reading! And oh, Chartres … you’re lucky to live so close. I’ve been wanting to visit again for years … the windows are supposed to be better than ever after the restoration. But unfortunately I live really, really far away. *sigh*
I’m glad you’re enjoying the story! *hearts*