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Lendoren	By : septentrion Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 19648 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 41
- 42
- 43
Disclaimer: everything you recognise belongs to Jo

Story by kelokelo, chapter translated by septentrion and beta�ed by vonHardenberg

Chapter 42. A Hasty Departure

On her way to the Hospital Wing, she refused to discuss anything with the students who were all ears for any juicy bits of information. Instead she asked the boys how far along they were with their revisions, and was scandalised to find out that they hadn�t even begun them.

When she arrived in the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey was at first alarmed, and then asked her in a choked voice, �Miss Granger � but � what are you doing here? I was told that you wouldn�t come back before next week, or even later!�

�Those were our plans indeed, Madam Pomfrey. But Harry and Ron have received too many detentions, which led us to change our plans. Madam Pomfrey, er, Erwin doesn�t want me to attend all my classes for at least two weeks. Well, he�s coerced the promise from me,� she said through gritted teeth. �Could you please give me leave to do so without shutting me away in the Hospital Wing?�

�And if I were to shut you away in the Hospital Wing?� Madam Pomfrey teased her.

�Then, you�ll explain him the situation yourself, or he�ll Transfigure one of your beds into a double bed.�

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Silence spread over the Great Hall when Hermione, flanked by Harry and Ron, came in. Ginny was on Harry�s other side. She didn�t stop, didn�t hesitate one bit, and headed for the Gryffindor table. She didn�t spare a glance at the teachers� table; she didn�t want to meet the eyes of the two Lendoren, Malko and Filick, or of Umbridge. She had to keep a low profile until Dumbledore announced the �Ministry�s decision.� She and her friends had planned to spend time in the park after lunch. They would have to make a detour via Gryffindor tower to fetch their things and study in the park if possible: the NEWTs were less than two months away.

They reached a secluded area in the park, after her friends had taken their things from the tower. Hermione surveyed, horrified, the ravages caused by the Dictator: if it had been possible to clear the dungeons quickly, the Ravenclaw tower was still only half its original height. She still felt weak, even though she didn�t attend all her classes�but Harry and Ron would give her their notes for those she missed. She closed her eyes. She felt secure, surrounded by her friends. If she were lucky, Severus would wake her up for Umbridge�s departure.

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As for Severus, he was feeling delighted sitting in Dumbledore�s office; he shared a smile with the old man.

�Well, Severus, have you both recovered from your ordeal?� Dumbledore asked.

�I�ve recovered more than she, but she�s had less time than I to do so, so it�s logical. She�s been awake for only a week, that�s why I managed to extract from her the promise to go and see Pom-Pom to receive a special treatment. She won�t attend all her classes for at least two weeks. I�ll help her to catch up.�

�Of course! Above all she must take the time to recover completely.�

They talked for a while during and after lunch. Suddenly, they heard some one climbing the stairs and smiled when they heard someone panting.

�Ah, Madam Umbridge,� Dumbledore welcomed her. �You remember Professor Snape, don�t you?�

�Of course,� she answered in an unctuous voice. �But, if I�m not mistaken, you�re not a professor anymore, Mr Snape.�

�That isn�t exactly so, Madam Umbridge. When I knew how teaching was taking its toll on you, I naturally turned to him, explained my dilemma, and he�s accepted, even though his companion is still feeling very weak, an offer to come and take your place among the Faculty.�

�No, it can�t be. The Minister himself chose me, by virtue of Educational Decree Number ��

�The Educational Decrees have been repealed, Madam Umbridge,� Dumbledore interrupted softly while standing up. �I thank you very much for accepting this position and for your patience, but Professor Snape will take his rightful place in the Faculty. I�ll walk you out and the house-elves will forward your things to your home.�

�You�re sacking me?�

�I�ll leave to you to understand this as you like,� Dumbledore retorted in an icy voice. �Severus, will you wait for me? We must discuss which subject you�ll be teaching.�

�Of course, Albus.�

Umbridge left the room, casting a hateful glance at Severus, who sent her back a mocking one.

He gently woke Hermione up.

�My dear? Hermione?�

�What happened? Merlin, it�s already that late? Then? Speak!�

�You can go and taunt Umbridge. She�ll soon arrive with Dumbledore. I�ll be able to see her departure from Dumbledore�s office. Would you please give her an appropriate send off? That would do all of us a lot of good.�

Hermione jumped to her feet and waved to the others to follow her. She briefly explained to them that Umbridge was about to leave, and that Erwin was encouraging her to mock the now ex-teacher on her way out. When they heard this, Ron and Harry called every group of students they met and invited them to Umbridge�s departure. Most of the students had been completely surprised when the Daily Prophet had revealed the Head Girl�s liaison with their Potions teacher, and even more surprised when they found out that she wasn�t a �normal� witch, but able to use a kind of magic that would remain unattainable to most of them. Those who had mixed with Hermione all these years were sure of this: their Potions Professor had never bestowed any favour upon her, nor to her closest friends Harry and Ron. Good notes to Gryffindors students had been given to all the years by the Potions Master, and not only the seventh years. That�s why a crowd of curious students were following them; if Umbridge was leaving, did this mean that they would have to suffer again in the dungeons?

Hermione had just arrived near the castle door when it opened to let Umbridge and Dumbledore exit. Umbridge looked at Hermione with hatred, and Ron and Harry closed ranks around her, as if they wanted to protect her. They realised later that their gesture was useless; Hermione would be the one to protect them. The fact remained that Umbridge was facing three pairs of implacable eyes, which caused a grimace to cross her face while a draft was stubbornly trying to lift her witches� robe. The more she fought with her robe, the more the students smiled, then laughed. As for Dumbledore, he was sporting a half-smile and his eyes were twinkling.

�Erwin, come. We�re going to add the finishing touches to her departure,� Hermione said through their link. �Do you have a picture of a centaur in your mind?�

�But � what do you want to do with a centaur?�

�You do it, that�s all. I�ll be the one to move it. Make it appear there, near the edge of the forest. Quickly, hurry!�

Severus could only comply with her wish, so he created a centaur and felt at once that it was very realistic. He didn�t have any trouble keeping it like that, while Hermione made it gallop in an astoundingly realistic way toward the castle.

�Hey! My centaur isn�t supposed to smile,� she scolded him sharply. �I want it to have an outraged expression on its face; the same as you would have had if you�d been the one to catch us carrying Norbert under the invisibility Cloak to the Astronomy Tower in my first year.�

�Who is Norbert?� Severus thundered.

�He�s a small Norwegian Ridgeback, well, he was a small Norwegian Ridgeback. He must have grown up since that time. Hagrid received him as a gift from Quirrell when he told him Fluffy could be subdued by music.�

As Hermione explained, Severus didn�t have to force himself to be furious, thus giving the centaur the same furious expression. He now knew of her first year antics. Merlin, they�d helped Hagrid to get rid of a dragon? They were barely twelve at that time! And Hagrid had told them how to get past that damned three-headed dog, whereas he had had to suffer from its teeth?

Hermione didn�t try to calm him down: the outrage shown by the centaur�s face was perfect. She could hear the thundering of the hooves perfectly well in her head and reproduce it with her faux centaur: it was still echoing inwardly since her expedition with Umbridge in the Forbidden Forest two years ago.

Dumbledore and Umbridge froze when they heard the stampede, and the astonished students saw a furious centaur go and stand in front of the two adults. He spoke in a hollow voice, �How dare you set foot on the castle grounds again?�

Anyone who might have heard a centaur speak wouldn�t have been fooled by the voice. Hermione prayed that Umbridge would be too dumbfounded to notice the difference so that her ruse wouldn�t be discovered. But Umbridge was paralysed by fear and took refuge behind Dumbledore, who remained impassive. Hermione was sure he knew the centaur wasn�t real, but he didn�t say a word.

The centaur got around Dumbledore to face Umbridge once more and neighed while getting near her. Her nerves broke; she rushed toward the castle gates while the students could be heard bursting out laughing.

Dumbledore winked at Hermione and went back into the castle.

Hermione was in stitches, as were Harry, Ron and Ginny, who all had had a hard time controling themselves until that moment. They had guessed about the deception rather quickly for they knew enough about the centaurs� habits. A real one would never have come out of the forest for such a mundane reason. The other students were wondering whether the centaur was real or not.

When Dumbledore met up with Severus, he found him with two Lendorens, Malko and Filick. They grinned at him.

�How are you, Erwin?�

�Better, even though I�d rather Hermione had a bit more time to rest before coming back here.�

�Hermione?�

�Yes. For now, Lumina only holds bad memories for her. Well, we�ll talk about it later. What do you want with us, Albus?�

�I wish to know who will teach what until the end of the school year so that I�ll be able to inform the students tonight. Do you want to take back Potions, Severus?�

While speaking, Dumbledore had a fleeting smile on his lips, for he knew Severus didn�t care for that position. True, he grimaced, but when he saw the twinkle in the Headmaster�s eyes, he retorted, �Have fun, Albus! If Malko is willing, I�ll leave it to him with pleasure. I�d rather teach Defence Against the Dark Arts. I�d like to end my teaching time here with a flourish.�

�What?� Dumbledore was ironical. �Don�t you want to teach more years?�

�No, thanks, Albus. Sincerely, I don�t have it in me to teach to recalcitrant teenagers the rudiments of magic. I�m convinced that Hermione and I will find things a lot more interesting to do for the next year, and the years to come.�

�Very well, Severus,� Dumbledore said with a smile. �You get the Defence Against the Dark Arts position. You�ve been asking for it for years, after all. There will be a scandal about that at the Ministry. Now, Severus, what are you going to say to your students? About your relationship with Miss Granger,� he added.

Severus shrugged. �Nothing, Albus. Anyway, they already know, so what more could I say? Only one thing, Malko, did you take occupancy of my personal rooms in addition to my dungeon classrooms?�

�No,� Malko answered with a smile. �I was still hoping that you would come back to the castle. I left you your icy rooms.�

�Mmm, I must admit that I had deserted them for the warmth of the first floor lately.�

Answer to reviews:

firewall: Umbridge has had her comeuppance in this chapter. I agree with you that she is entirely despicable, even more than Bellatrix Lestrange IMO.

loveeyourhatee: thank you.

Citten: they go to Madam Pomfrey to ascertain Hermione's physical state. I also guess she won't be reproached not to attend all her classes if the school nurse says she can't. Thank you for your review! (As for this part of the worl, we elect our President today, so it's a big day).

Anon: thank you.

MB 3: here is the next one. My fingers are still crossed for you.

catysmom: thank you. Here is your update.

kodiac: the centaurs kind of drive Umbridge away. She deserves it!

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