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Out of the Silent Planet	By : moirasfate Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 71680 -:- Recommendations : 4 -:- Currently Reading : 2
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
- 4
- 5
- 6
Title: Out of the Silent Planet (5/39)
Author: moirasfate/ianthe_waiting
Rating: MA/NC-17
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter books and their characters are the property of JK Rowling. This is a work of fan-fiction. No infringement is intended, and no money is being made from this story. I am just borrowing the puppets, but this is my stage.
Genre: Plot driven smut, Darkfic, Romance, Drama, Angst...
Warnings: M/F, Bondage, slight non-con, Dark!Draco, and HBP spoilers.
Summary: Post-Hogwarts - Hermione Granger fulfills Severus Snape's final wish, to journey to Japan to �retrieve' something of importance. Set eleven years after HBP.
Author's Notes: This is my first DM/HG ficlet, so please be kind to the newbie! The title of this fic is taken from C.S. Lewis' book, first in the Perelandra Chronicles. Inspirational tracks? Tori Amos� Silent all these years and Cornflake Girl.

For some introductory information on the kimono: http://www.japanesekimono.com/index.htm

Many thanks to kazfeist for improving this fic with her expertise!

Out of the Silent Planet
Chapter Five � Of dreams, magical meditation and surprising answers.

As sleep leads to dreaming, Hermione dreamt of her days as a schoolgirl at Hogwarts. Caught in Morpheus� spell, she often walked those ancient stone corridors, unmarred by the scorching of fire and the stain of dark curses in her visions. Ghosts of students long gone would pass the maimed and older version of Hermione, some acknowledging her, others passing her by in disinterest. Into the entrance hall she went, where the sun poured in through the open doors. It was always spring in Hermione�s dream, and the scent of sod and flowers was in the air.

Standing amidst the apparitions of students, Hermione felt happy and very much at home. As a group of chattering Ravenclaw girls slipped past Hermione, and younger versions of Fred and George Weasley laughed at a new wheeze they were hiding in their hands, as they stood just inside the threshold of the doors, the dream changed. Suddenly Hermione was young, her hair sprouting from her head in wild tangles and Draco Malfoy was pointing his wand at her face... Blond hair slicked back, mercurial eyes flashing, Draco Malfoy�s lips twisted as he muttered a hex and Hermione felt her body try to move out of the path of the blast of magic...but it was always the same. Her teeth grew and grew...

�I see no difference...� a much younger Severus Snape hissed, and it was always at this point Hermione awoke cursing the name of her master.

So Hermione snapped awake, her amber eyes blurry. Staring up at a dim and alien ceiling it took a few moments for Hermione to realize where she was and how she had gotten there. Slowly the events of the last twenty-four hours began to move to the forefront of Hermione�s mind, and she sighed, pulling her hand from under the comforter and scratching the bridge of her nose. She hated that dream...or at least that version of her dream. During one of their many conversations, Hermione had told Severus that she had thought that event in her school days had been one of her worst memories. Having your teeth enlarged was not a pleasant experience in the least, and Hermione had always wondered if she would ever stop dreaming of it.

Hermione shifted on the futon, turning to her right side. The sun had not yet risen as she gazed out the window of her room, and the snow-covered garden was shrouded in gray light. Shutting her eyes, hoping to sleep a few more hours, Hermione could only hope the time difference would not force her to resort to sleeping draughts just to sleep through the night while in Japan. But as she slowed her breathing and pulled the comforter up over her ears, Hermione was beginning to feel as if it were futile to try and sleep. Licking her lips, Hermione began thinking of potions� ingredients that seemed to always be in short supply in the laboratory, things that would need reordering when she returned to London.

Murtlap essence, refined aloe, asphodel, belladonna... Hermione was dozing again when she thought of valerian root, her thoughts lost in the gray ether of half sleep.

�No, Master Ryu...you cannot!�

Hermione mumbled and cracked her eyes open slightly. Someone was speaking, distantly...even in the haze of semi-awareness, Hermione could tell that it was Hanako speaking, her voice frightened.

Slowly closing her eyes again, her mind forming visions of the potions laboratory and a cauldron needing to be stirred...

�She will see you! Please, Master, she might see!�

Hermione�s eyes opened again and she was suddenly very awake. Rolling onto her back she craned her neck to face the door, listening. Seconds passed into minutes and Hermione frowned. She was certain she had heard Hanako�s voice even if it had been distant. Wondering if she should call out, Hermione pushed back her comforter as she sat up to gaze more intently at the door. Blinking back sleep, Hermione waited. Silence�blanketing silence�

Hermione was not the sort of person who was likely to experience auditory hallucinations or a person who was prone to waking dreams. Hanako was preventing someone from entering her room, someone the ghost called Ryu.

Lying back into the futon, her head resting against the pillow, Hermione scowled at the wooden panel ceiling. Something was moving in the dark corridors of her mind, an intuition, perhaps. Years of training outside of her apprenticeship with Severus had taught Hermione a deeper level of concentration and logic. Hermione had learned Occlumency and some Legilimency from Severus, a difficult task since Severus had been so weak in body and mind after the War. Hermione rarely used her learned skill, but the discipline had taught her to analyze matters by intuitively sensing the ebb and flow of magic from people and objects. And at that moment, focusing on the wood grain of the ceiling panels, Hermione knew that some magic was working against her in some way. Akin to fighting off the Imperius Curse, Hermione was subconsciously struggling against something meant to prevent her from knowing or seeing something that seemed to be very important.

Hermione relaxed her body, letting her hands fall to her sides atop the comforter. She closed her eyes, noting that the gray early morning light was becoming warmer as the sun began to rise. Relaxing her face and her jaw, Hermione took a deep, cleansing breath. Severus had taught her that when charms or binding curses were used to conceal intentions, objects or locations, certain traces of the spell are left behind. These traces had to be analyzed to find the true nature of the magic used, thus logically leading a person to identify and eventually dismantle the spell. This method of analysis could be used to find the concealments of the Fidelius Charm, trace Unplottable locations, dispel variations of the Disillusionment charm, rout the Imperius curse, and discover the essential purpose of assorted blood oaths and Unbreakable Vows. Granted Hermione had never actually tried to do many of the things Severus told her this method of logic and advanced applications of Legilimency was supposed to do. Hermione was a far more skilled Occlumens than a Legilimens, but her highly evolved sense of logic put both disciplines on par with each other.

So, with her mind ready and awake, Hermione began visualizing standing before a great gate, iron-wrought like the gate at Hogwarts, only larger. Hermione began studying the gate in her mind, taking in every aspect, the sense of its feel against her fingers, cold and hard. The gate became tangible and Hermione could feel the coolness of the iron seeping through the pores of her fingers, to the bone. With a mental push the gates whined open, and Hermione�s mind went through only to come to another gate, this time a large wooden gate. Another push and to another gate, smaller than the last, Hermione�s mind moved forward. This mental exercise was how Severus had taught Hermione to begin to visualize traces of magic in a given space, person, or object.

Finally Hermione�s mental or astral self stood in her room, standing beside her physical body which was represented as a stone statue in repose. Everything was cast in gray, as if all the color had been drained from everything Hermione�s astral eyes fell upon. Hermione concentrated as she looked into the sitting room, and faintly the room began to glow, the walls, and the floor, even the door. Any object or person for that matter that was imbued with magic had a faint bronze glow, contrasting the gray of the physical. Magic was woven into the very room, and the spells used to magically warm the room glowed and moved in faint runes that indicated the nature of the spell. Hermione willed her astral body to move and like a ghost, she floated across the room to the wardrobe that glowed with swirls of bronze runes, which indicated that the wardrobe was warded from intrusion. Hermione was familiar with the ward, used in the place of simple locking charms that changed to accommodate the user of the object; similar to the way Muggle key cards could be programmed. With sheer will, the wardrobe opened noiselessly and Hermione peered inside. A drying charm was placed on the robes, but something else glowed in the wardrobe, much brighter than anything Hermione had yet seen. Severus� diaries glowed through the silk bundle and Hermione could see by the brightness of the madly swirling runes that heavy protections had been placed on the diaries. Concentrating, the leather bound diary slid free of the silk and floated before Hermione, the cover flipping open by unseen hands and the pages billowed open to one of the later pages. On a page dated mid 1998, bright orange runes seemed to careen madly upon the page. Hermione quickly identified the nature of the spell, a charm to obscure something on that page�a charm that she knew Severus used quite often in his notes besides the cryptic shorthand. Hermione willed the book to return to its place and the wardrobe doors to shut. Severus had left her a clue, something that he did not want just anyone to notice or see.

And just as Hermione�s body floated across the room to the door, she felt a sting in her mental self-projection. Someone was trying to rouse her from her trance. Hermione floated back to her body, looking down at her stone face, thinking that she looked like a tomb sculpture that belonged atop of a sepulchre. With a mental push, the grayed-out room began to dissolve and sudden Hermione felt her mind flying back through the mental gates, the gates snapping shut as she flew backwards. With a jolt Hermione was back in her body.

* * *

What had pushed Hermione to return to her body had been Hanako. The ghost had worked herself into a frenzy trying to rouse Hermione by swiping her ethereal hands into Hermione�s body. When Hermione opened her eyes and sat up she was tempted to hex the girl ghost into another realm, but she greeted Hanako and allayed the ghost�s fears that she was ill.

Hermione soon found that she had spent several hours traversing the other plane, and that the sun had risen. Finding that her body was very cold, Hermione asked Hanako if she could bathe before the light breakfast of miso soup and plum pickles. Hanako informed Hermione that she would accompany her to the bath, still concerned that Hermione was not well.

As Hermione went into the hot water of the spring she had first used the day before, the steam was so thick that Hermione requested Hanako hover close to her.

�There was a man in the spring last night,� Hermione said unashamedly, sinking down into the water to her chin. She did not have to look at the ghost to see her mouth moving for an explanation.

Hermione sighed, the warmth of the hot spring quickly warming her body and invigorating her so that she felt much refreshed and ready to begin, anxiously, to unravel the spell in Severus� diary. But first, Hermione felt she should also mention overhearing Hanako speaking to a Master Ryu outside her room earlier that morning. Before Hermione could ask her question, Hanako began explaining�

�Master Ryu used the bath last night, as he does every night. I had hoped to have you not see him. My duties to the family kept me from retrieving you. I hope you were not offended, I should have mentioned it sooner,� Hanako tried to explain, her voice panicked.

�It startled me, but no harm was done,� Hermione mumbled, stretching out her limbs before her in the water and balancing on the edge of the rock shelf.

�I mentioned it to Master Ryu and he tried to come and apologize early this morning� I stopped him since I knew you were sleeping and it was awfully early to meet someone and expect to apologize,� Hanako continued.

Hermione found Hanako�s explanation too convenient, more like a lie than anything else.

�Who is this Master Ryu?�

Hermione glanced up at Hanako, who was worrying her silver lip between her teeth. Wishing she could perform a bit of Legilimency on the ghost, Hermione gently asked the question again.

�A servant, he is not one to concern yourself over, Mistress. I have conveyed his apology. And now, you should dry yourself and start breakfast. Lady Kaori would like to meet with you this afternoon, and you might need my help on putting on a kimono,� Hanako said hastily, apparently anxious to drop the subject of the mysterious servant. Hermione wondered if Hanako realized how suspicious she made herself appear.

Not having to use her cane at all, Hermione returned to her room to find her breakfast waiting for her. She was used to having coffee and toast for her daily breakfasts so the soup and pickles were a nice change. Emptying her dishes and stacking them on the table with her chopsticks on top, Hermione glanced into the bedroom where she noticed that her futon and bedding had been removed for the day. Instead, a large wooden rack was before the window, holding dark green silk with small decorative elements, such as imprinted pale pink cherry blossoms and lotus blooms. The winter sun shone on the green weave of the silk, casting a slight reflection on the floor and walls from the sheen of the fabric.

Hermione had never seen a kimono so intricately designed or so rich in colour. The garment was an elaboration on the traditional yukata. The kimono was a T shaped garment with straight lines at the sleeves, the back hem and even the collar. Hermione had read a short history of the garment before her travels, hoping to acquaint herself with the details of Japan�s rich culture. She smiled to herself, inwardly mocking herself for being a know it all, but in truth, Hermione knew little more about the kimono than that it was a formal garment, and that the difficult part of donning the garment was tying the obi, or sash.

Rising from her place at the table, Hermione winced, feeling that her feet had fallen asleep as she had knelt before the table for breakfast. Her left leg still felt well enough to walk without her cane, but she knew if she had to kneel again during her audience with Lady Kaori, Hermione would need her cane later.

Slowly she approached the rack, noting that a wide pale pink obi also hung on a wooden bar a little lower than the sleeves of the kimono. Hesitant to touch the delicate silk, Hermione looked all about the fine garment, finding three lighter slips of pink, green, and white silk hanging underneath the top robe.

�Mistress, may I enter?� asked a voice from the door and Hermione�s eyes widened, wondering what time it was and if she had slept too long and had taken a late breakfast after all.

�Please do, Hanako,� Hermione called back, her hands grasping her plain green yukata about her body.

Hanako slid into the room, smiling.

�It is a beautiful kimono, isn�t it?�

Hermione nodded dumbly as Hanako floated to the side of the rack, her ghostly hand trying to touch the silk, but slipping through.

�You have an hour to put it on, but don�t look so discouraged, Mistress, I will instruct you!� Hanako giggled, beaming as if she were extremely delighted to be of use to Hermione.

Hermione sighed. It was unfortunate that Hanako was a ghost, Hermione thought, or the girl could literally help her put the silk on.

Hanako began by instructing Hermione to disrobe. Hanako had seen Hermione in the bath so Hermione did not feel modest about being nearly naked before the girl ghost. Standing in only her panties, Hermione shivered at the sudden change of temperature. Hanako instructed Hermione to first put on the socks called �tabi� which rested on the wooden base of the rack, and then to take the first white slip from the rack, which was called a �juban.� After applying the toed socks and light undergarment, the right side of the robe against her body and the left side on the outside, Hermione was to don the next robe of green silk, which was slightly larger. Hermione found that the robes did not need pinning or a sash to hold them closed; instead they were magicked to stay closed with a charm that even Hermione did not recognize.

When all three undergarments were on, Hermione felt much warmer. Finally the kimono was to go on next, and Hermione swallowed thickly. The fabric was so delicate that Hermione feared that her touch might wrinkle the smooth robe. Gingerly she removed the kimono from the wooden rack and marveled at how heavy it was in her hands. Like the robes before it, Hermione donned the kimono, smoothing the lapels, thankful that the silk was not as malleable as it appeared. The silk sleeves were long and fell well over her fingers; the bottom hem dragged the matted floor. Hermione felt like a little girl trying on her mother�s clothes and wondered if someone had made a mistake by allowing her to wear that particular kimono.

Seeing Hermione�s confusion, Hanako supplied: �It is to be long. This particular kimono is called �Houmongi� and is commonly worn by unmarried women to weddings or galas. The difference is where the pattern is...you see, on the sleeves and hems?�

Hermione nodded, reaching for the obi.

�There is a tying spell for the obi, let me tell you...� Hanako said with a smile as Hermione looked at the sash with a blank expression.

After a simple incantation without a wand, the obi was cinched about Hermione�s waist comfortably with an ornate bow in the back. Hermione wished she had a mirror to see how she appeared. She felt like a princess in such fine silk, and surprisingly comfortable. Hanako suggested that Hermione pull her hair up and pointed to the wardrobe. Hermione tried to walk with the large amount of silk about her socked feet and found that she could only take delicate steps lest she step on the kimono.

�It is hard to believe that Lady Kaori wears something like this everyday,� Hermione mumbled as she finally made her way to the wardrobe, Hanako hovering just at her elbow. Opening the wardrobe, Hanako pointed to a shelf that Hermione did not notice before, which held several lacquer clips and pins.

With a simple Accio, Hermione grasped her wand and transfigured the inside door of the wardrobe to be a mirror. Gazing at her reflection for a long while, Hermione found that the colours of the under robes and kimono were complimentary to that of her eyes and hair. With a few muttered charms, Hermione�s hair was pulled up and pinned, several errant strands falling about her face, framing her features beautifully. Tucking her wand into her sash, she turned to Hanako and held out her arms as a sign that she was ready.

�You look simply divine, Mistress. I am glad that the kappa found something so suited to you. Are you comfortable?�

�Very much so, is it nearly time?�

Hanako nodded, moving to the door. Hermione closed the wardrobe, glancing at the diary on the shelf. It could wait for a bit longer, she thought, and she moved to the door where her cane was resting against the frame. Taking the cool silver crook in her hand she opened the door into the corridor, Hanako floating before her. Hermione took a deep breath; it was time to get answers out of someone...

* * *

Hermione was led to the first wing she had entered when she had arrived at the ryokan. Hanako was strangely silent as she floated ahead of Hermione, her ghostly hands tucked in her silver kimono sleeves. Finally Hanako stopped before a large rice paper door and gazed at Hermione. Hermione looked back upon the ghost, noticing that the girl was worrying her lip fiercely.

�Lady Kaori and Lady Fuumi await you in this room... But Mistress, please do not think them unkind if they should seem cold. There is so much I would like to tell you, but I have been forbidden to do so. I know you have many questions, so please do not hesitate to be forward with my mistresses...� Hanako whispered, gradually floating away from the door as if some unseen wind were blowing her back.

Hermione could only nod as Hanako�s form began to dissipate. Hanako had confirmed Hermione�s suspicions; something had been secreted from her even before her arrival in Japan.

�May I enter?� Hermione called out, grasping the head of her cane tightly, partly out of nerves and partly out of a growing frustration.

�Please, Mistress...� a voice called from within the room. Hermione slowly slid the door open and stepped inside, quickly bowing. When she raised her head she realized that she stood in a large matted room with windows looking out over a snowy courtyard and garden. To her far left sat two figures on a raised wooden platform, kneeling about a pit fire. Hermione slowly shuffled across the room, feeling as if she had entered the throne room of a long dead Japanese Emperor. The room was quite empty but the sliding panel walls were painted with mythical scenes that moved slowly and magically. A warrior was battling a red dragon and several troll like creatures called �oni� on one part, and as Hermione walked she glanced out of the corner of her eye at a monk sitting next to a tiger under a barren tree. The monk and the tiger seemed to be conversing, but Hermione heard no voices. On another panel was a monkey dressed like a king, holding a long staff in his human-like hands, gazing at a setting sun.

When Hermione came close to the wooden platform she bowed again, using her cane to keep her balance as she nearly tripped over the long hem of her kimono. Lady Kaori sat on a large mat swathed in a plain dark green kimono. Her face was painted more so than the first time Hermione had seen her, but she was smiling, which disarmed Hermione.

�Please, sit,� Lady Kaori said gently, moving her graceful arm to an empty mat to her left, close to the pit fire.

Hermione slowly complied, eyeing the older woman who sat almost behind Lady Kaori, stoking the smoldering fire with a long metal poker. Hermione sat, folding her kimono so that it rested all around her legs, and placed her cane to her left side. The older woman, whom Hermione guessed was Lady Fuumi, the matriarch of the family, did not seem to notice the foreign woman at her fireside. Lady Kaori turned on her mat in a sort of graceful duck walk and sighed as she sat down.

�I hope that you have rested sufficiently, Mistress?� Lady Kaori asked, folding her hands on her lap.

�Very much so, thank you for your hospitality,� Hermione replied, not quite looking at Lady Kaori but to Lady Fuumi, taking in the woman�s wrinkled face and silver hair. The old woman was sitting very straight, for someone who seemed very old. Hermione could not see the old woman�s eyes for her wrinkles, but could now feel the woman�s quick glances.

�And Hanako has been helpful?� Lady Kaori continued, not acknowledging her grandmother.

�Yes, she is a wonderful companion.�

Lady Kaori nodded and silence filled the room. Hermione gazed at both women, from one to the other. Lady Kaori seemed at a loss as to what to say, and Hermione sighed gently. Hermione fidgeted slightly, discreetly moving her wand within her sash so that it did not dig into her ribs.

�Young miss is a powerful witch, Kaori, I can feel her power like the heat from this fire,� a crackled and ancient voice sounded in the room. �She is frustrated at our secrecy and our silence. She wants to know about that young dark Master,� the old woman cackled.

Hermione�s eyes widened and quickly she threw up her mental walls. The old woman was a crafty Legilimens.

�Oh ho! She found me out!� the old woman cackled in delight, slightly rocking where she sat, but still held the poker, which had grown bright red at the end.

�Grandmother!� Lady Kaori exclaimed, scandalised.

The old woman continued to cackle, her toothless mouth open like a horrible gash in her face. Hermione lowered her chin and stared at the old woman who seemed less and less like a woman of status and more like a mad hag. The fire reflected in Hermione�s amber eyes, turning them molten and hot.

�Grandmother speaks the truth, Lady. She reads me accurately,� Hermione intoned deeply, finding that she could not read the old woman at all, her defenses honed by years of practice and skill. Hermione turned her eyes then to Lady Kaori, her tawny irises clear and no longer swirling with anger.

�Forgive us, Mistress, we have not treated you respectfully. Please, ask us what you will and we will answer within our power,� Lady Kaori said in almost a whisper, abashed and unwilling to meet Hermione�s eye.

Hermione drew herself up, wary of the old woman smiling wickedly at the fireside.

�I want to know of Severus� connection to this family. I know that he came here many years ago and he was connected to a Lady Kaede for he said her name as he lay dying. Tell me of Severus then, and why it seems so much has been entrusted to this family,� Hermione articulated somewhat forcefully.

At her question the old woman, Fuumi, began chuckling again, stoking the fire with almost a maniacal strength so that red sparks crackled. Lady Kaori bowed her head and Hermione could tell that some old memory pained the middle-aged witch.

�Master Severus came here almost twenty years ago on holiday. He was a young man then, but blackened by a curse mark on his arm. I was later to learn that he had joined the ranks of a Lord Voldemort several years before in your native country. We did not begrudge him his mistake for he explained to us that he deeply regretted his decision and had taken steps to rectify himself,� Lady Kaori said softly, still refusing to meet Hermione�s eyes.

�He was a spy for a faction called the Order of the Phoenix,� Hermione supplied.

Lady Kaori nodded. �He had only just started teaching at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and had come to Japan on holiday. He stayed with us for over three months. Master Severus had many old injuries and much pain, so we graciously let him stay to refresh himself in the healing waters of the onsen. During his stay he became close to our family. My father found Master Severus very interesting, not for his loyalties to any side, but for his knowledge of potions. Master Severus� acumen in potions also drew my older sister, Kaede, to his side. Kaede and my father were very well known in Japan for their healing potions and their theses in the collegiate journals at Edo University of Magic. It seemed a natural match between Master Severus and my sister, and soon Master Severus asked our father for Kaede�s hand...� Lady Kaori trailed, her voice faltering as she spoke.

Hermione was stunned. She had had no idea that the woman in the picture had been the one that Severus had loved. Hermione had never heard of the woman before Severus to have painfully uttered her name on his deathbed. But Hermione knew something had happened for Severus had never married, and by the expression on Lady Kaori�s face it was something tragic.

But Lady Kaori did not speak, it was the old woman who continued, her voice reminding Hermione of the sound of dry leaves rasping against each other.

�Toku consented, but the young master added that he would like to leave Kaede in Japan for it was too dangerous to take her back to Britain in those days. Kaede protested, she wanted to leave with Severus, be by his side no matter what danger existed. Young master and Kaede quarreled and the marriage was postponed indefinitely. Soon, young Master left for Britain...and Kaede was heavy with child. When the child was born, young Master returned, looking in better health than the first time I laid these old eyes upon him. A boy child in Britain had defeated Lord Voldemort, and young Master wanted to take Kaede back with him. But Kaede was ill; the babe had wrung her dry. Kaede ailed for several years before she died, and the babe was left in our care.�

Hermione gaped. Severus had a child? Where was the child now?

The old woman chuckled. �He lives still,� she answered, having gleaned Hermione�s question from the cracks in the walls of Hermione�s mind. Hermione closed her mouth and steeled her resolve, forcing the old witch out again. To the slight push, Lady Fuumi smiled. �The boy is younger than you by only a few years and he lives in Edo. He knows nothing of his father, and it shall remain that way as long as I live. Young Master avowed to this family that that boy will never knew his true father.�

�But why? Severus would never...� Hermione began.

�He had his memory modified, he would have never told anyone of something that he never knew, now would he?� the old woman chortled.

�It was too dangerous for him, Mistress. Although Lord Voldemort had been defeated by young Harry Potter, Master Severus believed that the evil wizard would somehow find a way to rise again...and Severus was correct,� Lady Kaori said softly, her lips trembling in sorrow.

Hermione fisted her hands in her lap. She knew she could not claim to know Severus� mind completely, no one did, but the fact that Severus Snape had an heir...it was almost inconceivable. What of Severus� estate? Did anyone know of this child with Snape blood running through its veins? Hermione frowned; apparently not. If Severus� memory charm had been strong enough and measures taken to protect the child�s parentage, no record would exist claiming that Severus had an heir. Again, Hermione wondered if part of the magical protections concerning the boy had been part of the magical concealments she could feel niggling at the edges of her soul.

�The boy was raised in this house, like his ancestors. He is powerful, like his parents, and pleasant to look upon. But we will not tell you more about him or how to find him. Our compact prevents us from doing so. You may seek him out on your own, but he is not his father,� Lady Fuumi said deeply, her voice changing as she drew herself up and for the first time Hermione could see her beetle black eyes, twinkling with the power of Legilimency.

Hermione nodded. What use would it be for her to seek the boy out? He did not know his father and would find Hermione�s interest unwelcome. But there were still more questions to be answered and Hermione let her shock settle. In a way she was glad that Severus had an heir, whether he remembered it or not.

�And of Severus' last visit to this house?� Hermione asked softly. She felt a newfound respect for these women for having brought up Severus� son. Hermione knew that they must be kind since they had brought up an illegitimate child and had talked so proudly of the boy.

�Eleven years ago... He was a frightful thing, and had aged poorly. We had only just become aware that this Lord Voldemort had risen again. And when he came he was thin and weak, he looked like a madman with long hair and a beard. I almost did not recognize him at first, but when he called me �Grandmother,� I felt as if a son had returned,� Lady Fuumi said smiling, her gash of a mouth turning up at the corners and Hermione wondered if the woman had always looked so wicked when she smiled.

�The diaries, were you able to decipher them, Mistress?� Lady Kaori asked, finally raising her head, her painted lips no longer trembling and her dark eyes meeting Hermione�s. Lady Kaori seemed the same woman Hermione had met the day before, cool demeanor and exacting eyes.

�Yes, but I have not had the chance to read them all. The first begins just as he was fleeing Britain, but he mentions he had a companion, and that is what I wanted to ask about next,� Hermione intoned and frowned as the women across from her glanced meaningfully at each other. Hermione readied herself for the truth, although she had a few conclusions of her own.
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Out of the Silent Planet