Chapters 91-100

Rarely Pure and Never Simple

After only two weeks Alina was wondering if it was possible to die of boredom.

Her homework was all done.

She wasn’t allowed to do magic, and it wasn’t much fun to use a wooden stick to practice wand movements.

Playing outside with her old friends was okay, but it just wasn’t the same. Football just wasn’t the same as Ditch ball—and Ditch ball was only dumbed down Quidditch for babies and First Years who weren’t allowed to play Quidditch yet.

Alina found herself counting down the days for the weekend. Whatever misgivings she might have had about her mother’s new boyfriend (and she really had none) were overshadowed by the fact that he was a wizard and weekends were routinely spent at the Burrow now. And at the Burrow, there was magic, and most of all, there were broomsticks.

She just couldn’t wait.

oooOooo

Only three things could make Alina sit still these days: two silver bells and thinking about her father.

She sat quite still whenever she contemplated the bells and her father.

But she was careful about the timing and only did that when her mother wasn’t at home. Her mother was already scared about the one bell. And Alina simply had no idea how to tell her mother about her latest discovery.

It was Wednesday morning, and Alina sat at her desk and stared again at a certain paragraph in ‘Hogwarts: A History (Revised Edition)’.

‘Arsehole,’ she muttered once more. She didn’t feel any better about her father after reading ‘his’ passage in the book for 37th time.

‘And how did you manage to hide the bell behind your portrait?’ She huffed. Some kind of elaborate spell, no doubt. But which one and how? ‘Good question. Next question.’

She frowned at the bells. Two out of seven.

‘And where’s the next bell?’

Where would I hide a Necromantic bell if I was an arsehole?

oooOooo

‘Mum?’

‘What is it, Alina? I’m in a hurry.’ Lois Petrel was about to leave for work.

‘Do you have anything at all that once belonged to my father? Did he ever give you anything at all? For you to remember him by?’

That question got Alina her mother’s attention.

‘Oh, sweets.’ A hurried glance at the watch and a worried frown.

Alina squirmed. She hated making her mother uncomfortable. But it was really the best way to get the answer she wanted.

‘Not really. I am so sorry, Alina.’

‘And un-really?’

Alina instinctively knew when someone tried to evade her questions.

Lois sighed. ‘We went to a flea-market once. And there was this bell that caught his fancy. Not a magic bell, mind you. Just a ratty old handbell that was probably used to order around servants in Victorian times.

‘Alina—I’m really sorry, but I do have to run now. We’ll talk about that this afternoon when I come back from work, all right?’

‘Yes, thank you, mum.’ Alina hugged her mother and for once even allowed her to give her a kiss. Maybe then she wouldn’t feel so guilty about her manipulation?

As Lois was already opening the door, Alina called after her, ‘Mum? Where is that bell? I would like to take a look at it. Just for fun.’

oooOooo

Her hands were icy cold and sticky with the clammy sweat of panic.

Dolores Umbridge smiled at Hermione and nodded at her assistant to get his transcribing quill ready. Draco Malfoy straightened in his seat. He never looked at Hermione.

Absently, Hermione noticed that outside the weather was beautiful. It was August. The sun was shining and a bright blue sky was dotted with fluffy candy floss clouds. Dust motes glittered in the ray of sunlight that filtered through the windows into the small examination room of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Her head was beginning to feel fuzzy with the effects of the Veritaserum.

‘We will start with a few simply questions to get into the rhythm. Please relax, Mrs. Snape. There is nothing to worry about. After all, this is only a silly formality. Nothing to worry about at all,’ Umbridge simpered in her high, girlish voice. Her amphibian eyes were colder than Trevor’s ever had been. ‘Please don’t break the rhythm of my questions. Simply answer as spontaneously. Now, let’s begin, shall we? Then you can go and enjoy the rest of this fine day with your husband.’

Umbridge smiled again. The sweet note of jarvey-musk that pervaded her perfume almost made Hermioine gag.

‘What is your name?’

‘Hermione Jean Snape.’

‘Who is your husband?’

‘Professor Severus Snape.’

‘No middle name?’

‘No. His father didn’t approve of such…unnecessary embellishments.’

‘How would you describe your feelings for your husband?’

‘I love him.’

oooOooo

‘But I told the truth,’ Hermione whispered. For some reason she couldn’t look away from how the parchment rolled up to form a cream-coloured arch over the polished wood of the table.

‘So did I,’ her husband commented. ‘And imagine my surprise at how easy it was to accomplish that task under the influence of a liberal dose of Veritaserum.’

‘Severus, please.’

Distantly Hermione noticed how Minerva McGonagall put an arm around her back.

‘This has nothing to do with the truth, Hermione. I dare say that repulsive woman has a long list with arguments to base her ridiculous claims on. Harry and Ms. Loxweild-Spalt will take over your defence and it will all be over and done with before you know it.’

Somewhere behind them, Severus expressed his opinion of that idea with a sarcastic snort.

oooOooo

‘But I did tell the truth,’ she repeated later, when they were alone in Severus’ bedroom. ‘As if I could do anything else, with my mind all woozy with Veritaserum. Besides, you’ve seen it in my mind!

‘I love you. That’s the pure and simple truth.’

‘I know, Hermione. Hush now,’ Severus murmured and pulled her into his embrace, bitterly aware of the fact that truth of any kind was rarely pure, and never simple.