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Love Is No Big Truth	By : honeybee Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 10389 -:- 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.

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8. Pagan
Poetry

Severus
brewed a pot of coffee, slowly and methodically. While he was waiting for the
foam to rise, he glanced occasionally at Miss Granger. She was eating her
breakfast obediently. The girl was much more subdued than he had remembered
her. As much as he used to complain about her incessant chatter, in some ways
he missed the crackling energy that used to surround her. She still had it; it
was evident from her last remark to him. If something could bring out the
overexcited first-year student in Hermione Granger, it was the chance of
learning something new.

He glanced
at the pot and quickly pulled it away from the fire. He had to teach her how to
Wield, and he had done that only once before. She had also been a
vibrant, lively girl, with a profound love for knowledge and respect for life.
He had taught her, wishing to share this beautiful secret with her, to cement
their friendship. He still believed that had sealed her fate. He glanced down
at his trembling hands and cursed quietly. Get a hold of yourself�you can do
it. History doesn�t have to repeat itself.

Quiet steps
approached him from behind.

�I am ready
to begin, sir.�

He
carefully poured the jet-black coffee into two thick mugs and turned
around. She was staring at him
earnestly, biting her lip, clearly anxious. He thrust one of the mugs into her
hands and pointed at the bench.

�Sit!� She
flinched slightly and he realised that his nervousness was making his tone too
harsh. �Please.�

Hermione
sat carefully and sipped on her coffee. Severus sat next to her and
contemplated his own mug for a moment, thinking about the best way to start.

�Give me
your hand, Miss Granger.� She startled at first, and then slowly slipped her
small hand into his. It was warm; she had always thought he would be cold and clammy.

�Now close
your eyes, and think. Think about all the invisible processes that make a
living being alive. Imagine life as a current that flows through my body.�

She closed
her eyes and frowned slightly in concentration.

�Now, try
to feel it with your fingertips. It is there, you just have to reach.�

She frowned
deeper until a radiant smile smoothed her features, at the exact moment he felt
her make contact.

�It is
incredible�it feels as if my fingers are submerged in something, yet I can feel
them touching your skin.� She giggled slightly. �It tickles.�

Severus
felt a stab in his heart. She had said the exact same thing.

�Yes,� he
said softly, �it tickles. It feels similar to touching memories in a Pensieve.�

Her brow
furrowed. �Maybe. I wouldn�t know, I have never used one.�

�I think
that was enough. Now release my hand, slowly.�

When she
started to draw away, she felt a strange sensation�as if the gentle current
surged in her direction, unwilling to let go. She dropped his hand and they
both felt the connection break. She opened her eyes and stared at her hand with
wonder.

�Is it
always so easy? I thought it would be hard.�

�It is
easier with a living creature, because the current is structured. When you
connect to the pool, it is chaotic, amorphous, going in all directions, and all
too eager to be used. The hard thing about Wielding is learning to control it,
Miss Granger.�

She looked
doubtful and Severus sighed.

�I suppose
you will have to see for yourself. Sit on the ground, it will be easier.�

Hermione obeyed
and lowered herself to the grass a few meters away from the bench.

�When you
touch the ground, reach with your mind the way you did with me. You are going
to have the same sensation of touching a fluid, but the tickling will be
intensified. Life does not like staying idle; it wants to be channelled. You
will need to block that, because now you are conscious of your powers. If you
don�t learn to block, flowers will be sprouting around you every time you sit
down on the ground.�

Hermione
pressed her fingertips into the soil. She imagined the current and reached.
Suddenly, there was a wild, bordering on painful tingling in her hand and she
felt the connection. This time, it was not a gentle flow; it was a wild and
stormy ocean. She realized what Snape meant when he said it was too eager. It
was seeping through her like liquid through a straw, looking for something to
ground itself into. She tried to push down, but it was too strong and she
started to panic, because she couldn�t break the contact. Then she felt another
presence in the current. It reached around her somehow and neatly cut the flow.

Hermione
opened her eyes and saw the sky. Then something moved beneath her with a groan
and she gasped in horror. Scrambling off Snape, she tried to help him up,
apologizing profusely. He held up his hand.

�It�s not
your fault, Miss Granger. I had to pull you away physically as well, so when I
cut the contact, we were both thrown back.�

He stood up
and walked over to the table to pick up his coffee, bringing along hers as
well. She just stared at the patch of flowers that her uncontrolled attempt had
produced.

�We shall
need to train extensively, Miss Granger. You are very strong and you will need
practice and discipline to control the flow.�

�How�how
can anyone control this? Wouldn�t controlling a hurricane would be easier?�

�You need
to learn restraint, Miss Granger. Your Gryffindor personality makes you rush
into everything with all your heart and soul.�

Hermione
bristled, ready to argue, but Severus held up his hand.

�I did not
mean it as an insult, I merely stated the reason you found it hard to block.
You just rushed into an enormous pool of life force with all your enthusiasm.
It is natural that it rushed right back at you.�

She looked
down, chastened. She was too used to hear the word �Gryffindor� only as a
derogatory comment from his mouth. Old habits die hard.

�When you
released my hand before, did you feel something unusual?�

She raised
her eyes sharply.

�Yes, I
meant to ask you. It was as if�my fingers were sticky. It didn�t want to let
go.�

�There is
your answer. Life has an affinity to life. When you connect to the pool, you
had created a channel for the wild, uncontained life force. If you hurl
yourself in without thinking, you would create a huge gate, which is very hard
to close. You need to hold back, to keep the channel small. Then, you let only
a trickle pass through. A trickle is easy to direct, a flood is
uncontrollable.�

Hermione
sighed.

�I
understand, Professor. It seems I have a lot to learn. How did you manage to
break the connection?�

His face
tightened and he answered curtly.

�You are
not the first I had to teach. I have had to become an expert on flood
management.�

He rose
from the bench and stared into space.

�That was
enough for today, Miss Granger. You should go home and rest. I suggest that we
meet again during the weekend, so please owl me with details. I will ask you to
keep this a secret, even from your friends. Wielding is considered one of the
Dark Arts; I wouldn�t want either of us ending up in Azkaban.�

Hermione
nodded and rose as well.

�I realise
that, Professor. I will keep quiet. Could I have your permission to Apparate
here when we meet next? Floo travel is not my favourite mode of transportation.�

Severus
smirked, remembering her tumble out of his fireplace.

�In this, I
share your opinion. You may Apparate the next time. Farewell, Miss Granger.�

�Goodbye,
Professor.� She stood up straight and prepared to Apparate, when his voice
stopped her.

�One
moment, Miss Granger. Are you still in contact with Mr. Krum?�

She nodded,
wondering what he meant by such a question. He rubbed his chin in thought.

�Speaking
to him about this would be safe, if you feel the need.�

�Professor,
we have an agreement! I am not going to blab everything to someone, I can keep
a secret!� She looked truly hurt.

�I know
that. Nevertheless, I meant to say that I believe Mr. Krum has an open mind
about this. Go ahead and tell him. You will understand when you speak to him.�

Hermione
just stared at him for a moment and then Apparated, without saying a word.

***

Arriving in
the flat, Hermione shed her jacket and threw herself on her bed, deep in
thought. Again, she looked at her fingers with awe. It was an unbelievable
sensation; she finally understood the serene look that had surprised her on
Snape�s face. She also understood better the text she had read about Wielding.
She had literally touched the miracle of life with her own bare
fingertips. How could anyone even contemplate killing when life felt so
wonderful? She thought about Graolf and shuddered. It was inconceivable that
someone could use something so pure to create the Killing Curse.

Hermione
rubbed her temples. All the loose information in her brain made her head ache.
She remembered Snape�s words about Viktor and decided to talk to him. She
walked over to her flatmate�s closed door and knocked quietly. A minute later,
he opened the door with a big smile.

�Hello
there, I didn�t know you were back. Come in and tell me what happened with
Snape.�

She walked
around him and sat down on the bed, chewing her lip. She didn�t know quite how
to begin. Viktor sat next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

�Hey, is
everything all right? Was he mean to you?�

�No, no,
nothing like that. He just told me some things that are hard to digest. And he
told me I should speak to you about it.�

Viktor
relaxed visibly and urged her on.

�Well come
on, say it. It can�t be that bad.�

Hermione
took a deep breath and asked, �Does the word �Wielding� mean anything to you?�

Viktor
immediately stiffened and withdrew his arm from her shoulder as if burnt.

�Yes. I
know it is something you shouldn�t speak about. We don�t use the same word in
Bulgaria, but it isn�t safe nevertheless. And I don�t see what business he had
telling you about it.� He looked angry and worried.

Hermione
wrenched her hand in her lap.

�Well�he
did actually�because I can do it. I didn�t even know until today. He said I
could speak to you, that you would understand, but apparently, he was wrong.
I�m sorry, forget I ever mentioned it.�

Viktor
stared at her in amazement.

�You
are�you are one of the Ancients?�

�Umm�if
that is what you call it.�

He stood up
and started pacing the room. The he stopped abruptly and stared at her.

�I would
never tell on you, though I don�t know how Snape knew. But you should never,
under any circumstances, speak to anyone about this. Do you understand,
Hermione?�

Taken aback
by his fierceness, she nodded quickly.

�Yes,
Viktor, I know. He told me as much himself, I also read an old document. It
said that Wielders were hunted down and killed, and it is still considered Dark
Arts.�

Viktor
growled and sat next to her again. Taking a deep breath, he took her hands and
looked into her eyes.

�I am going
to tell you a story and you will understand why I am so worried about this.
When I was a little boy, my great-grandfather was still alive. He was a very
good man, always smiling. He used to read stories to me and my cousins, he sang
all the time. The thing about him was that he didn�t have both his hand from
the wrists down.�

Hermione
gasped in shock. Viktor continued on.

�When we
asked, everyone told us that Great-Grandpa had lost his hands in some war
because of frostbite. We believed that he was a Muggle then. He was very old,
but longevity is common in these parts. Only after he died, when I was older,
my father told me the truth. My Great-Grandfather had been a Wielder and he had
been caught. At that time, there was no death penalty. A Wielder�s power was
believed to come from the hands�so they cut them off.�

Viktor
looked very angry by then and started to pace the room again.

�My father
explained everything to me, about the Ancients and how they were revered in the
old days. He told me about Graolf and his curse, about the hunts.� His lips
curled in disgust. �Wizards hunting other wizards�is shameful. It turned out
that I come from a long line of Wielders, Hermione, though my grandfather, the
one who Grindelwald killed, was the last one. Anyway, my father though it was
the right thing to tell me. This is how I know about it, and why I know it must
be kept very quiet.�

Hermione
absent-mindedly wiped the tears from her eyes, stood up, and embraced her
friend.

�I
understand. I�m sorry I brought this up, I didn�t mean to.�

�Oh, they
aren�t painful. The old man was happy and he managed well enough without his
hands. He had a big and loving family to take care of him. It just makes me
angry that the old stupid laws still exist and you could be punished for being
gifted such a wonderful gift.�

Viktor
returned her embrace and murmured in her hair, �Please, promise that you will
be careful.�

She
squeezed him tightly and whispered, �I promise!�

He released
her and smiled.

�I suppose
you will be fine, you are a smart girl. Enough old tales; now tell me what
really happened with Snape. How did he know you were an Ancient, and how does
he know about them anyway?�

So Hermione
told him all about her strange day, leaving out no details. When she finished,
Viktor smiled fondly at her.

�He said
you were very strong, huh?�

She nodded.
Viktor ruffled her hair affectionately, earning an indignant squeal.

�Hermione
Granger, you really are something. When you do something, you just have to
excel, don�t you? No, leave my pillow alone, I thought you are supposed to be
all grown up and sophisticated. Now go get some rest, I can see that you are
knackered. We will talk about it later again, if you want to.�

Hermione
had to agree, so she went to her own room and snuggled in bed for an afternoon
nap. She couldn�t wait to see Snape again for another lesson. She also started
her classes next week. It seemed she was going to have her hands full. Well,
tell me something new, was her last thought before she drifted off.

A/N: Sorry about the long delay, I hope you find this chapter interesting. All reviews are welcome and celebrated with a wild victory dance.
I have an LJ account now, http://emichka84.livejournal.com/ anyone interested in the story progress can pop over. Bows to Gryffindor_Slytherin, the best beta ever! This chapter's title belongs to Bjork.
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Love Is No Big Truth