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And They Didn\'t Live Happily Ever After	By : ElizabethStump Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 90306 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- 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
- 95
- 96
- 97
"And They Didn't Live Happily Ever After"

Chapter Ninety-Five
"Draconem antarcticus glacihalus"

Disclaimer: One, two! One, two! And through and through
The fanfic author went “Disclaim!”
She admitted with no growling that Potter's owned by Rowling
She went galumphing in vain.

A/N: This disclaimer is a parody of Lewis Carroll's poem, “Jabberwocky.”

============

The news of the new dragon species in Antarctica was a momentous event globally in the wizarding world. An international team of witches and wizards, specializing in plants and magical creatures, had gone to explore the vast Antarctic deserts. There, they found the previously unrecorded breed of dragon they called the Antarctic Ice Dragon, or Draconem antarcticus glacihalus, for its ability to breathe ice instead of fire, as observed by the team. Some might have thought being caught in the breath of an Ice Dragon would be preferable than being burned to a crisp by most dragons. The Ice Dragon's breath was so cold, it was as if one had been burnt, similar to a Muggle handling dry ice without proper protection.

However, what the wizarding world did not count on, was a new strain of dragon pox which was unintentionally brought back by the international team and quickly spread throughout the wizarding world. Not every breed of dragon was a vector for dragon pox, so they did not think the Antarctic Ice Dragon would be a source of one either.

Charlie Weasley was one of the lucky few who went to Antarctica with the team of explorers, as they needed experts on magical beasts, should they encounter new species. Arriving back in London, after samples of the newly-discovered dragon's eggshells, molted scales and scat had been collected, Charlie went to the Ministry to deliver the artifacts to those within the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, who would study the items and compare its properties to that of other known dragons.

As Charlie was walking back to the lift, looking forward to seeing his wife, Angelina, and their three children after being gone for the past three weeks, he was suddenly overcome with a fit of sneezing. The sudden sprouting of frozen snot icicles out of his nose two feet in length did not bode well.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was late and long past dinner. Severus had everything packed for his trip to India where he would finally see Hermione, but he was far too busy to think about her at the moment. Right now Severus, Ranjit, and Arnold were at the clinic combining their talents in search for a cure to this new Ice Dragon pox sweeping through their world like wildfire.

There were a few deaths from ice pox, as they called it, but those who died were the very old who, like the regular strain of dragon pox, were much more susceptible.

Most remedies for the standard case of dragon pox called for the cure that Gunhilda of Gorsemoor developed in the late 1500's. In addition to the potion to help treat regular dragon pox symptoms, lowering one's body temperature was recommended. This was because the disease usually had symptoms such as fever, burning throat – literally, sparks coming out of the nose when sneezing, profuse sweating, and, in rare cases, a craving for raw mutton. In more severe cases, one had permanent scars, not to mention permanently green-tinged skin if not cured. This new strain of dragon pox involved snot icicles hanging from the nose, sweat which turned into ice crystals on the skin, bone-shaking chills, fatigue, small bumps that felt frozen to the touch and itched, headaches, and – when the patient was not suffering from fever – a lower than normal body temperature that resulted in blue-tinged skin.

The Potions masters of Malu Palekaiko had been in contact with others from China, Japan, Australia, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Equador, Peru and Chile, which were the closest countries by albatross since the disease started spreading immediately following the arrival of various exploratory team members back from Antarctica. The exploratory team had members from Great Britain, Russia, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, and Brazil. It was the perfect dispersion to spread an unknown vector throughout the wizarding world.

More isolated placed like Malu Palekaiko were some of the last places to get the disease, but it arrived there nonetheless in less than a week from the first reported cases. It had been brought in via a witch who had Portkeyed in from Vancouver, Canada to talk to Severus and Blanche about an exclusive distribution deal for the Miniature Man-Eating Masdevallia pods throughout North America. She didn't have any symptoms until after she had arrived and infected everyone who worked in the Portkey office. Thankfully Halulu wasn't working there that day, since they had no idea how this disease would affect unborn children. Ginny had fortunately not caught the disease, and was being very cautious since the outbreak began, canceling all belly-dancing classes until further notice. Even Severus had canceled all tutoring and private consultations, corresponding through Owl Post only, for now. Besides, he was busy reading research other Potions masters around the world were doing and using their work – along with his own, Arnold's, and Ranjit's findings – to come up with a cure.

Gunhilda's cure involved using some blood of the Common Welsh Green, the breed which was the source of the dragon pox disease. Unfortunately, there was no blood of the Antarctic Ice Dragon, since none was collected and a new team was back in Antarctica trying to locate an Ice Dragon on the vast and desolate continent. The fact it had white scales made it blend in more, making it even harder to spot by broom or by Apparating to mountaintops to scan horizons from above.

There was talk of stopping Portkey travel until either the disease had run its course or a cure was found. Severus hoped if they did quarantine borders between countries, it would be after he had left for India. All these weeks of anticipation, and he was ready to see Hermione once again.

Severus was wondering if the outbreak was an emergency enough to call off his trip to India, as the Potions masters' code of ethics dictated he stay if such an emergency occurred. Rainbow assured him that Arnold and Ranjit were there, so he wasn't leaving their island without at least one Potions master to help deal with the problem. Besides, if Severus talked with other Potions masters in India, they might have some new ideas he hadn't come across in the correspondence with other Potions masters around the world, and bring those ideas back when he returned.

The clinic was full of witches and wizards of various ages, complaining of chills and other symptoms, despite the recent heat wave when it was 90 degrees F degrees outside. Most were diagnosed and sent back home with recommendations to keep as warm as possible to ease their suffering, as there was nothing else they could do for them at the clinic.

Draco had come to get Severus at the last minute before they left, indicating that Ginny was waiting for them at the Portkey office.

"Go, Severus," Rainbow said, seeing the conflict in Severus' face whether to stay and help or go. "No one has had much luck here, and maybe you'll learn something there that'll help."

Severus' bag was packed and by the door. As he headed to join Draco, who was waiting for him just on the other side of the door to the clinic, he felt a cool tingling in his sinuses. He stopped and paused in his tracks before sneezing violently.

Turning around, with two large icicles hanging from his nostrils, Severus looked at Rainbow with a look of dread plainly written on his face.

"No." He shook his head in disbelief that fate would be so cruel as to not only infect him, but prevent him from traveling and seeing Hermione at the last minute.

Draco, wondering when Severus was going to get his arse moving along, peered through the small glass window set high into the door to the clinic. There he spotted Severus looking back at him, icicles hanging from his face and his skin suddenly beginning to take on a pale blue cast. Draco's heart went out to his friend who would be denied being reunited with his love. Severus couldn't travel if he had the pox.

"Go," Severus said, loud enough so that Draco could hear through the windowpane. "Tell Hermione..." What could he tell her?

Standing on the other side of the glass and nodding, Draco said, "I know." His face was full of empathetic sorrow for his friend. He would tell Hermione about how Severus had been looking forward to seeing her so badly, but could not come now.

Rainbow ushered Severus over to the last empty bed in the clinic. As chills overtook him, he thought about the fact that Ranjit, Arnold, and he had been hesitant to try anything too experimental on the others' suffering. This was because the Potions masters code of ethics forbade them from dispensing experimental potions that they hadn't tried on oneself first, nor had any one of the three Healers on the island come down with it yet. Maybe they could now reach a breakthrough with Severus as the guinea pig.

One of the island's several Muggles, who were immune to all magical diseases, was in the clinic helping as best she could. Janine Watters, an African-American Muggle and former nurse when she lived in Minnesota, had retired to Malu Palekaiko with her wizard husband. She wrapped a blanket around Severus and offered him some piping hot coffee until Rainbow could look him over.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hermione was waiting at the Varanasi Portkey office in India, eagerly awaiting the arrival of Severus, Draco, and Ginny in the mid-afternoon. Albert was there too, by her side, eager to speak with Severus about any research he had been doing in Hawaii regarding the outbreak of ice pox.

As the Malfoys alighted in the Portkey office, Hermione's heart sank. The look on Ginny and Draco's face was enough to tell her that Severus was not coming.

Hermione embraced her friend, as Ginny said with somber regret, "He was coming, but at the last minute, he came down with the pox." There was no need for Ginny to clarify which pox it was.

Hermione blinked back tears, knowing that not only was she not going to see Severus, but he was sick with the malady as well.

Albert and Hermione had been busy for the past week, prior to their departure, spending most of their time at St. Mungo's. All research and development at The Lovely Lavender Company was temporarily put on hold, though the house-elves in the warehouse were still manufacturing and shipping products. Lavender was avoiding going out into public, working from home instead in order to reduce possible exposure to the new contagion.

While at St. Mungo's, Hermione got to meet Reginald Chuff's current apprentice, Dvalinn Chrysalis. Chuff did not bring Dvalinn along to the monthly Potions masters' drinking parties, instead keeping the young wizard back home doing more cleaning, preparing of ingredients and low-level brewing for commissions that Reginald took as his main source of income.

Dvalinn was a lad of nineteen. He looked somewhat undernourished, and was skittish when his master, Chuff, was around. While Chuff did not physically beat Dvalinn, she could tell that Chuff was still just as much of a demanding and unrepentantly remorseless master as when Severus had studied under him. Hermione would have just plainly called him cruel. Watching the way Chuff ordered Dvalinn about and insulted him, Hermione could see where Severus learned his style of teaching from. Even with Severus' less than fond memories of Chuff, he had absorbed some of the harsher aspects of his mentor's personality when it came to teaching.

When Chuff wasn't around, Hermione gave Dvalinn tips and hints on how to chop and slice certain ingredients, given her years of work in her prior job, as Dvalinn was still uneven in his knife work.

But despite all the available Potions masters and mistresses in Great Britain, and their apprentices as well, in addition to nearly every country around the world working to create a cure for ice pox, none was discovered yet. Considering all the planning and great expense Lavender had gone through to plan this launch in India, Hermione and Albert still went despite the medical crisis. They hoped to consult with the Potions masters in India regarding any breakthroughs they might have discovered.

Hermione, Albert, and the Malfoys all headed to the hotel to check in.

Hermione's Aunt Christine, Lavender's Advertising and Marketing Vice President for Europe, Africa and Western Asia, had already arrived via plane the night before and was checked into the hotel, as the hotel also accepted Muggles, as long as they had some connection to the wizarding world. A liaison from the hotel brought Christine from the airport, via a magical rickshaw, similar to the Knight Bus, with orders to proceed carefully with its pregnant Muggle passenger. The entrance to the wizarding quarter of Varanasi was through one narrow, unremarkable alleyway that was otherwise unnoticed by the local Muggle population.

Lavender had already arranged for a team of stylists to meet Hermione and everyone else to take measurements for custom-made clothes for the big launch party and press event the next day.

The valet witch assigned to Hermione's room put away her belongings while a seamstress took measurements for her sari outfit. She would need a petticoat, choli top, sandals and jewelry to match for the complete outfit. Before Hermione arrived, Lavender had already ordered Hermione's sari to be in a bright fuchsia pink which was quite complementary to her coloring, but it was up to Hermione to pick which fuchsia sari, of the many the dressmaker brought to pick from for the event tomorrow. Lavish jewelry was already rented for the occasion for the women.

Looking through the row of folded saris laid out for her choosing, a portion of the decorative pallu end visible, Hermione had a hard time deciding, as they were all so beautiful. Some had intricate paisley patterns along the body with ornate gold patterns along the bottom edge, some featured a heavily beaded pallu of intricate craftsmanship. Finally, her eyes alighted upon one fuchsia sari with violet and orange secondary colors, with just a hint of emerald green accenting the bottom border and pallu.

Now that her sari had been selected, the seamstress began waving her wand about, much like Madam Mandel, listing off measurements in Sanskrit while the hovering charmed quill and parchment took dictation. Once done, the witch told Hermione her outfit would be ready tomorrow in time for the event and she would help her dress, including charms to keep her sari in place.

Ginny and Aunt Christine had their own seamstresses measuring them as well. Because Aunt Christine was nearly six months along in her pregnancy, Lavender had ordered a double-layered abaya-style churidar kameez in a turquoise georgette silk to help minimize her baby bump and flatter her blonde hair and pale complexion. Ginny was in her fourth month and had a two-piece lehenga in vibrant green to cover her now slightly swollen abdomen and complement her hair color.

Draco and Albert were also being measured and outfitted as well with dhoti sherwani suits of their own, befitting a formal affair of this caliber. Albert was told he would have a cut-away front, while Draco's long lean form was more flattered with the full-front sherwani jacket with right angles and no curved bottom jacket hem.

Now that everything had been put away by the valet assigned to the Malfoys' suite, Ginny laid down for the night, though it was only five in the afternoon local time. Draco headed up to the rooftop garden, bar, and restaurant. He found Hermione sitting at the bar, sipping a cup of hot tea.

Sliding up onto the bar stool next to her, Draco decided to stick with something non-alcoholic for once, as it was hotter than even the heat wave back in Hawaii. He was slightly perplexed Hermione wasn't drinking something with ice.

There was a silence that stretched between the two for a moment as they gazed out past the unobstructed view of the vibrantly-colored city. They could see the Ganges River stretching along the land like some great sleeping mythical snake, its waters undulating like the rippling of scales, swollen near the edge of its banks at the end of monsoon season. The sun, behind them in the west, began to color the buildings to the east in pale saffron tones.

"I can't tell you how much Severus was looking forward to coming," Draco said softly, his voice tinged with regret as he looked out cross at the far-off horizon. "It was just as we were about to leave for the Portkey office. He had his bag by the door of the clinic, Rainbow told him that they would be fine, as Arnold and Ranjit were there. And just as he was about to head out the door, that's when he came down with it."

Draco waited for some reaction from Hermione, but she kept staring blankly towards the fields located on the other side of the banks of the Ganges. There was a thin trail of smoke rising up from nearby where a cremation funeral was taking place along the shore, next to one of the many ghats, or staircases, leading down to the river, ruining the otherwise perfect view.

Just as the view was not perfect, marred by the knowledge that someone's corpse was currently being burned as part of the funereal purification ritual, so was Hermione's trip to India marred by Severus' absence and knowledge he had come down with ice dragon pox.

On another rooftop nearby, a woman – witch or Muggle, it was not known – was sitting while playing her sarangi. She sang a soft lament as she gently played her instrument. It was as if this woman had peered into Hermione's heart and seen the sorrow that subdued her, then translated it to song for all in that quarter to hear. Her voice rang clear, undulating as if in a prolonged sob.

"Ever since we came back with your letter, memory, and bouquet for him, he's..." Draco hadn't asked him directly, but knowing Severus as long as he had, he could tell his assessment of his friend was correct. "He's been happy. Happier than I've ever seen him before. Hopeful, even."

Draco turned to watch Hermione's reaction to that news. He saw her give a bittersweet smile, as serene as any smile gracing the lips of the many statues of Buddha they had seen throughout the city.

Hermione realized that Fate was toying with her, and she would not give it the satisfaction of seeing her suffer. Fate had given her the choice of staying behind or leaving with Severus, and when she chose to leave with him, Fate had caused that vial to slip from her shaking hand, removing her choice from her. Severus had made the choice of coming half-way around the world to see her, and his choice had been taken from him at the last minute as well.

"Keep calm and carry on. Isn't that how the phrase goes?" she asked before draining the last of her tea from her glass cup.

Damn that British pride to keep a stiff upper lip and all that rot. But what would a temper tantrum up on that rooftop in Varanasi do to cure Severus, or the rest of the wizarding world that was suffering from that damned plague? If anything, since Hermione would not be spending any time with Severus, every spare moment she had, when not fulfilling her job for Lavender with this launch, would go towards working with Albert for a cure. Albert had already made arrangements to visit some of the local Potions masters and brainstorm with them, compare notes, and continue to work towards some breakthrough. She would go as well, since she wasn't going to be holed up with Severus in a hotel room for a few days, living on nothing but each other's kisses and room service.

Draco stifled a yawn. "Sorry, not you, it's just that Portkey travel can be quite taxing at times. And now we have to get used to this time zone. It was close to eleven at night when we left, and now my body feels as if it's well past midnight. I wish there was a potion for Portkey travel across vast distances to reset my body to the right time zone. Are you aware of any?" he asked, regretting not querying Severus before he left Hawaii.

She shook her head. Hermione was not aware of any, and she herself was going to be wishing for a potion as Draco described. Her body felt like it was around noonish, as she herself was still on London time.

There were sleeping draughts, but it still did not do anything in regards to resetting one's internal body clock any faster, or with more ease. Perhaps no such potion existed, since Portkey travel across vast distances was still not common – just as in the Muggle world jet travel was not common and not exactly cheap either. Maybe Draco had inadvertently solved Hermione's problem of what to create for a new potion for her apprenticeship. Hermione did overhear her Aunt Christine complaining she couldn't take melatonin for this trip, due to her pregnancy. She would have to ask her aunt about how melatonin was used to help Muggles with jet lag.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

There was nothing else Rainbow could do for him once she diagnosed Severus but for him to go home to rest. In his rapidly deteriorating condition, even he didn't trust himself to Apparate the ten blocks without making things worse, nor did he have the strength to walk those ten blocks that were all uphill. Even going by Floo was risky, since he was sure he might pass out during the short trip. Neither Arnold nor Ranjit wanted to touch Severus to Side-Apparate him home, as they didn't want to catch the ice pox either. Luckily, one of the Muggles on the island, Matt, had a two-seater surrey bicycle. Matt offered to take him as far as within one block of his house, where the road became too steep to peddle up all the way to his front garden gate.

Severus had seen the odd side-by-side two-seater bicycle about town once or twice. It was even used as a way for introducing young witches and wizards to the concept of a bicycle before graduating them to a regular two-wheeled model during summers. He had first informally met the owner, Matt, on Christmas Day when he went flying with the Finaus and they introduced Severus to the Muggle who surfed with Shark, the clothing store owner.

Matt, whose witch wife, Lorraine, was at home with the pox, helped Severus onto the surrey bike and ran around to the other side to hop on and begin the ride through town. The bike rocked and jostled a bit, as the roads on the island were not built for cars, even though they were wide enough to easily accommodate them.

Once the road became too steep for Matt to continue peddling the weight of two adults up the hill that became steeper, he put the brake on and helped Severus the last block up, as Severus had become quite weak.

Standing on the front porch in the flickering torchlight, Matt asked, "Do you need me to help you get to your bedroom?"

Severus shook his head, while his teeth chattered, and weakly thanked the kind man for helping as much as he could. He wasn't sure if he would have been able to walk that last block without leaning on Matt once or twice, dismayed this malady was sapping all his strength.

Once inside, Severus thought maybe he should have taken Matt up on his offer. It took the last of his will to nearly crawl upstairs into his bedroom and into bed, barely able to summon every blanket in the house to climb under.

He didn't even have the strength to take his clothes off, except for his shoes, before he passed out. He was worn from lengthy days working on a cure with no results, and the late hour.

Nearly all the Muggles in Malu Palekaiko were helping witches and wizards – running errands, shopping, cooking, and helping any way they could – since they weren't susceptible to the disease. Even some of Tina's Muggle relatives flew all the way from the East Coast to help Tina, who had come down with it as well, plus do "the good Christian thing" and help around with a few neighbors as well.

Elves and goblins were immune as well, so they were kept quite busy. The laundry service run by Mr. Loddy, a free elf, was running 24 hours a day with the increase in demand. The elf-for-hire service was also booked beyond capacity, with people willing to pay extra for services.

Goblins, seeing an opportunity to make an extra buck, also jumped on the bandwagon and ran errands for a fee if no Muggle or elf was available.

When Severus did finally stir from sleep, it was due to someone rapping on his bedroom door, sometime after mid-morning.

"Severus? Severus, its Janine. I'm here to check on you," she announced loud enough to warn him she was there.

Janine had experience having to come in and check other patients who were at home alone and sick. She knew to make her presence known to avoid getting hexed or walking into wards, especially since she was a Muggle.

Severus grumbled out some incoherent acknowledgment and waved his hand, poking out from under the covers, indicating it was all right for her to enter.

"Rainbow was worried, since you seemed to come down with it pretty quickly." The retired nurse approached his bed, unable to see him buried under the pile of blankets. "I'm going to pull the covers away so I can take a look at you."

Peeling the layers back, she finally found him under the bedclothes. There was a small gasp that she didn't quite stifle, as Severus had quite a bad case of ice pox. There wasn't one square inch on his face and arms that wasn't covered in icy lumps and bumps, and his skin had a cast so blue that he reminded Janine of a rare blood disorder she had read about during her studies as a nurse – something called methemoglobinemia. The Muggle condition was due to a higher than normal level of methemglobin in the blood that caused the blue cast to the skin. Severus' blue skin was due to this disease and low body temperature.

"Can you cover me back up now?" Severus asked, his teeth chattering, lacking the fortitude to dispense a scathing remark.

Janine put the blankets back up to his chin, but left his head uncovered so she could talk with him. "I've been talking with Rainbow, Arnold, and Ranjit." She sat down on the edge of his bed as she talked with a look of hesitation about her face. "So far there still isn't a cure, but I have an idea that I'd like to run by you, if you're game. Would that be okay?"

Severus nodded as best he could, considering he was shivering violently enough that it might have been construed as a nod.

"Arnold and Ranjit say that regular dragon pox is treated with a potion that uses dragon's blood. Word came back that there was no luck adding powdered ice dragon dung either, nor scale, from the Ministries that got the original samples. So far, there is still no word on finding that damned dragon, so no blood. Now in the Muggle world, to bring a fever down is to prolong it, as the body needs to raise the temperature to fight the bacteria or virus and kill it off quicker. When I worked as a nurse in a hospital, we sometimes would not interfere with fevers unless the patient was uncomfortable, or the fever got too high and there was a risk of brain damage. My grandmother used to wrap us up as kids to hasten the fever to break; that worked for us and we were usually over it in a day."

Janine could tell Severus was getting impatient and wanted her to finish so he could go back to huddling under the covers once again and go back to sleep.

"Just hang on a second, Severus. My point is, despite the use of regular dragon pox potion having no effect, or raising body temperature to little effect, what if instead of raising the body temperature, we do the opposite and lower it? Maybe the fever will break if we drop your body temperature. I know you wizards can handle more extremes than us Muggles. Maybe if we lowered your body temperature, it might break it like a fever. Rainbow is hesitant to try it on anyone in the community, since it could make their condition worse, but it's the only treatment we haven't attempted yet, and there is no word on any potion either from abroad."

Severus was feeling colder than that time Potter and Black "played" dunk with him in the lake, holding him under water until a grindylow grabbed hold of his leg and dragged him down to the bottom until he could cast a stinging hex at the creature to break free. Madam Pomfrey had had to give him two doses of Pepperup Potion to finally take the chill from his bones. And even though he was now feeling like death warmed over, Severus could see where Janine's line of thinking was a logical conclusion.

"Sounds possible," he muttered through clenched teeth, afraid that that if he didn't hold them together, he'd chip them from the chattering.

"You want to try it?" she asked for clarification.

"Yes," he barked impatiently. He wanted her to either cover him back up, or get a move on trying to get him over this fever faster so he would be less miserable sooner.

"Okay, let me run back down to the clinic and tell them you're up for trying this."

Janine ran out of his house. To Severus' dismay, she didn't cover his head up, which meant he had to put the considerable effort to pull the blankets the last few inches back over his head, which was quite exhausting in his state.

Just as he was falling back asleep, he heard the thunder of elephants, or maybe it was just the clomping of Rainbow's, Janine's, Arnold's, and Ranjit's feet trooping through his house and into his bedroom. It could have been elephants as he was starting to dream of India, but alas it was not.

Severus just wanted to hex Rainbow's mouth shut as she kept on asking if Severus was really up to this, and if he was of sound mind in his current condition to consent to such an experimental procedure.

"Yes, yes, yes!" he snapped at her, then clenched his jaw together. "You're going to make me into a blue ice lolly to see if we can do a reverse breaking of my fever. I understand, so let's get on with it."

Before they proceeded, Severus, Ranjit, and Arnold discussed which potions to use in concert with the ice bath they were going to give Severus.

Severus gave Ranjit permission to access his personal lab. He waited patiently under the covers while his fellow Potions master brewed up a Chilling Potion. Ranjit also made a skin-cooling ointment commonly used for bad sunburns, but upon Severus' suggestion, this batch would have more Arctic Mongoose blood added to it to make it even colder than normal upon application.

Once Ranjit returned, Rainbow and Janine stripped him down to just his underpants.

Severus didn't care that the ladies saw him in his skivvies, as they were medical professionals. There wasn't anything they hadn't seen before.

The ointment was applied to his skin. Then Ranjit helped pry open Severus' jaw, which seemed nearly frozen shut, and gave him the Chilling Potion.

Rainbow ran the bath as cold as possible, waving her wand to make it cold enough she had to break the layer of ice on the surface that formed before they could lower Severus into the bone-chilling waters of the bathtub. As Severus' skin made contact with the icy water, his body controlled by Rainbow's wand with a Mobilicorpus Spell, a keening howl let loose from his throat.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hermione was crossing a vast desert. Despite having never been in this featureless expanse of scorching sand and air so hot that it felt like she was inhaling fire, there was something familiar about this place. It seemed she had been there before, but could not recall, as if it was some far-off dream. For some reason, she was without her wand and could not recall why she was without it. Or her wand was under the many layers of clothes and she couldn't find it, as if it was hidden in some unknown magical pocket she was unaware of.

Wrapped under layers and layers of clothes, like some nomadic Bedouin, she trudged on. Despite being under layers of cool, loose, flowing white clothing, she was sweltering under all that cloth in the mid-day sun.

With nothing to guide her, she knew what direction to head towards, her sight fixed upon the sand dune looming in the near distance, since it was the only distinguishing object in this indistinctive no-man's-land.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As Severus' body slid into the icy water, his body became even more rigid. The shock of the cold made his mind go blank, lost in the excruciating pain of a frigidness so consuming, it almost felt like his skin was on fire.

The fever worsened, but this was expected. The sweat poured forth and froze so thick, it was as if Severus had become encased in a shell of ice. Rainbow kept vigil of Severus' vitals, and Arnold and Ranjit now kept Severus' head afloat just above the waterline. Janine prayed her intuition was right as she knelt by the tub and watched Severus' face, noticing his eye movements beneath eyelids covered with a thin sheet of ice, and a small trail of blueish vapor cloud escaping from his nearly frozen-shut mouth to indicate he was still breathing.

Unable to hold onto consciousness any longer, overcome with the unbearable pain of the mind-numbing freezing of his body and extremities, Severus slipped into a hallucinatory state.

He was in hell; Severus was sure of it. Where else would he wind up in some place as desolate and blisteringly hot as this place. He had surely died of the pox and was now stuck in a searing wasteland, his last dying wish that he could be warm once more.

'Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.'

Just like the time Chuff had dragged him out into the North African desert without any protection, Severus was stuck in the underpants he was wearing when he was placed in that infernal ice bath. He would sunburn, blister, and be even more miserable than he currently was, feeling the scorching sun burn him from above, the air baking his skin as if he was thrown into a oven in some Muggle horror tale about forest witches.

His only hope was that there was something more than sand waiting over the next sand dune in front of him. It was the only direction to go, because everything else was flat, barren sand with no shade to offer in the other direction. It would figure he had gone to hell without a wand to aid him, nor proper clothes. Maybe there was an oasis on the other side, if his luck would change for the better, for once.

This was worse than Hermione's dream of wandering aimlessly for hours or days on end that she could almost recall. At least the air was cool and reasonable amid the endless night that she wandered through, though when and where that was, she couldn't remember presently. Hermione was sweating profusely and was terribly thirsty, that much she was certain of now.

Hoping there might be something on the other side of the sand dune in front of her, she debated if it would take less energy to walk over it or around it when she saw a lone figure cresting over the top.

Holding her hand up to her forehead to shelter her eyes from the glaring sun, she saw a familiar silhouette.

'But it couldn't be.' It made no sense. Severus was back in Hawaii with that damned pox. But she could not explain how she had arrived in this damned desert with no recollection of how she arrived there, nor by what means.

Severus was not cast alone into desolation. There was someone else there too in the distance, and by the look of it, the person was properly attired for it as well.

Seeing the figure gazing up, he waved his arms to show that he needed their help. He couldn't recall how long he had been in the sun. It could have been minutes or hours, but it seemed that the sun never moved from its zenith above his head.

As he began to half-walk, half-slide down the face of the sand dune, the lone figure clad in layers of native desert robes began unwrapping the cloth from around their face before finally removing all of their head covering in one swift movement.

He saw her hair shining in the sun and recognized her immediately.

"HERMIONE!"

Hermione heard his voice calling out and began running towards Severus, overjoyed. He was blue, as blue as the Indian deities she had seen depicted on the walls and in art back in Varanasi, but she didn't care. She had never been so happy to see him in her life. Why he was in this desert, she didn't know. She just couldn't wait to hold him again. Maybe they could find a way out of this endless desolation together, but at least they would be together.

He saw her run toward him in haste. Severus quickened the pace, trying not to fall down, as his muscles screamed and protested, feeling unyielding, stiff, and weak. Once on the flat ground once more, he ran towards her, ignoring the scorching heat of the hot sand on the bottoms of his bare feet.

Hermione could see him better now. He was still wearing his beard and his long hair flowed behind him, but he was clothed only in his underpants, obviously dropped in the desert without any protection from the elements.

Fifty feet from finally reaching Severus, the ground cracked upon and swallowed up Hermione whole. The hole expanded to show that Hermione had fallen into a sea of molten lava that had been simmering just underneath the thin crust of sand and earth above it. That would help to explain the unbearable heat.

Before the molten lava could burn though her protective clothing, Hermione, who suddenly had found her wand, cast a Flame-Freezing Charm, hoping it would last long enough until she could reach the edge and crawl out. Flailing, Hermione could not swim through the thick molten lava. If anything, it was like quicksand; the longer she struggled against it, the more she sank.

"Hermione!" Severus screamed, trying to stretch out his hand until he realized his own wand was somehow in his hand. It hadn't been there before, for he would have conjured some protection from the sun earlier.

He tried a Summoning Charm, but he could not free Hermione from the molten lava. Severus tried conjuring something long enough for Hermione to grasp, but for some reason, anything that came out of his wand was never quite long enough to reach her, despite his attempts to lengthen it. It was not enough.

Casting another Flame-Freezing Charm, Hermione began to panic as the lava crept up to her chin.

"Severus? Severus!" she cried out as she tilted her head back, having one last gulp of air before her head was submerged beneath the glowing pool of molten rock.

Without hesitation, Severus cast his own Flame-Freezing Charm and a large air bubble about his head and person, and dove into the molten lava.

Despite the charm, the lava seemed to scorch his skin. It was excruciating, but he didn't care. Severus would save Hermione. He hadn't been there to save her from Alan Parker, but he was now here and would save her from any further danger.

Unable to see, he could sense where she was and grasped her by the hand. Pulling her body close to his, he brought her into the air bubble he had created.

Hermione gasped, taking a huge lungful of air once inside the enlarged Bubble-Head Charm he'd modified to withstand the pressure of the molten lava pressing down around them.

Together now, they tried to kick and rise up through the molten lava, but Severus was losing strength. He was already weak when he arrived in this hell, but the blistering heat of the lava was making it so he could barely move his limbs anymore. Hermione was also losing the strength to struggle against the searing quagmire, her flowing robes floating upwards and around the clutched-together pair, enrobing them both.

Both looked at each other and realized that this might be where they met death together, their faces aglow from the super-heated rock surrounding them. Without words, they had one last kiss before meeting their inescapable doom, unable to free themselves.

Severus' lips touched Hermione's, and he felt a sweet warmth emanate from them and into his lungs. Despite the unbearable heat that began to burn him, Hermione's warm breath was welcoming upon his lips.

Hermione felt Severus' lips upon hers and found them chilled. She drew his breath into her lungs and felt it cool her from the inside out, starting as a tendril in her chest and tingling as it spread throughout her body.

They exchanged breaths, giving each respite from what the other suffered.

Lost within the comfort of being in each other's arms and their kisses that were the source of relief for the other, neither of them noticed that they began to float up through the lava.

As their heads broke through the surface of the lava, they gasped for breath.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"He's going to make it!" Janine shouted with relief when the fever broke. She could tell as Severus' lips went from blue to pink, and his breath began to warm.

With a sudden jolt, Severus woke and began flailing in the tub, shattering the shell of ice surrounding him in the process. "Hermione? Hermione!"

She was just in his arms. Where had she gone? Why was he in this freezing water?

Rainbow used her wand to lift Severus from the tub, which was pretty difficult as Severus was looking about in panicked confusion, trying to gain his bearings. Shivering violently, he was placed onto some bedding laid out on the floor that had been warmed with a charm, ready and waiting for him.

After wrapping him in toasty blankets that helped warm his skin, Rainbow moved him with her wand. Severus was swaddled like an overgrown babe, and was laid to rest in his bed where Ranjit had some Pepperup Potion ready for him to drink.

Already the blue cast about Severus' skin began to fade and change to white, a sign that the fever had broken and he was over the worst of it.

Severus, too weak to struggle, let himself be moved about, finally realizing it was all a dream. But it had felt so real, as real as that time he was dragged through the mud and Hermione saved him from the same fate as his wife, fighting to save him, until he fell in the forest.

"How long was I out?" Severus asked through teeth that still chattered, but not as bad as before.

"I would say it was about an hour at most." Rainbow settled him down into bed. She stroked a thumb along his cheek and saw the frozen crystals bumps under his skin simply melt away with her touch. "How do you feel?"

Severus had woke in a tub of frozen water, but the phantom feeling of the heat and molten lava scorching and singeing his skin still burned brightly in his memory.

"Better, I guess." He wasn't sure.

Ranjit helped him drink the Pepperup Potion. The sight of steam coming out of Severus' ears was a positive sign that he was recovering. All previous attempts to give Pepperup Potion to people suffering from ice dragon pox had been met with no steam.

Severus' mind was still elsewhere, having mentally faced a certain death in his hallucination with Hermione in his arms. He was rather discombobulated.

"Well, you certainly look better," Rainbow told him.

Severus could not focus on whatever Rainbow was rambling on about. It was something probably important, but he could not follow, having been wrenched so violently from his hallucination, or had it been some alternate reality?

He only thought of Hermione's lengthy letter she'd sent him and her description of her dream after recovering from that slicing hex. Draco had told Hermione about Severus' prolonged and unexplained sleeping spell. What details Severus shared with him, Draco relayed to Hermione. The timing was too coincidental for Draco not to mention something to her.

The similarities were too close to discount. His own unexplained falling into an unwakeable state months prior, the forest, the semicircle of wizards, Alan Parker there, his lying there in the mud and all that transpired. That dream and this recent hallucination were close enough to think he and Hermione had shared a dream. Now there was the possibility they had shared a dream twice now.

She had wondered in her letter if there was some unintended side effect of the Irresistible Potion, which included pomegranate juice, that they developed together, but even her own research at St. Mungo's into an increased correlation of spouses falling ill at the same time since the potion went on sale indicated that there was nothing to that theory regarding their possible shared dream. She wondered if the pomegranate was somehow an agent that strengthened not only bodies, but emotional connections as well, harkening back to Severus' discussion of potions that amplified emotions that already existed.

He was willing to discount her theory until he finally remembered that one tome he'd read once. Short of going back to Hogwarts and plowing through the Restricted Section to find it, he would have to see if he could find another copy of that ancient Greek book.

His head was spinning and he was already exhausted. The Potions master would have to think on this when he was better and rested, not feeling weak and bereft of Hermione's presence once more.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Bolting awake, Hermione cried out for Severus. She found herself smothered under every blanket and towel in her room, plus the curtains.

Her nightgown was soaked with sweat. Pushing off all the heaps of linens atop her, Hermione freed herself from the weight of the fabric that was crushing her and making her sweat profusely.

Panting and shaken, Hermione wanted to cry. She'd had Severus in her arms and now he was gone. Though it was only a nightmare, it had felt so real.

Placing her hand up to her mouth, the pads of her fingers grazed her lips. They were still cool to the touch; cool from Severus' kisses. She exhaled, and a small puff of chilled air escaped her lungs.

This was confusing. Why was she under all those blankets when the night was so hot? Did she somehow Summon them in her sleep? But why? And if she was sweating and overheated, why were her lips cool if the kiss she shared with Severus was but a dream? It was as confusing as to why she was chilled earlier in the day despite the high temperatures that drove everyone else to drink iced beverages at the rooftop bar while she sipped her hot tea.

Hermione herself wondered if this was the possibility of yet another shared dream and shared suffering. Was Severus cold while suffering from ice dragon pox? Did she unconsciously Summon the blankets to help warm him in the dream they shared? Was it a shared dream or just wishful thinking that he was there with her and she could somehow take care of him and cure him?

After going to the bathroom to splash some cold water on her face and get a drink of water, Hermione called for the valet on duty in the middle of the night to change her bedsheets, since they were soaked, and she didn't feel like going back to sleep on sweaty sheets. Magic could only do so much with fabric; it was better to just get new clean sheets.

As the witch changed her bed linens and refreshed the room's expired Cooling Charms, Hermione contemplated going over to Albert's room and recounting her strange and vivid dream. Then she figured he had probably gone to bed late as well and needed the rest, given their big event was that day. It was only about three o'clock in the morning.

Instead, Hermione went to the desk in her well-appointed room and pulled out some parchment, ink, and a quill. She would write down her dream, and ask Severus if he'd had a similar dream as well. Hermione had hoped to talk to Severus after arriving in India about her theory of the Irresistible Potion, or some potion they imbibed together creating some dream-bond between them, but he was not there. So Draco would have to take her letter to him when he and Ginny returned to Hawaii after the weekend.

============

A/N: Thank you to my glorious betas, JuneW and Cygnuz, for their tireless work editing my away my fuck-ups and errors.

I have commissioned a piece of fanart by Bokuman to go with the dream sequence of Hermione and Severus floating in the air-bubble in the molten lava: XXXXXXXXXXX
Bokuman's DeviantArt page: http://bokuman.deviantart.com/ Yes, I know, Severus is missing his beard, but I forgot to relay that bit when doing my commission and didn't notice until after it was completed. Oh well. Beardless Severus it is for the fan art.

"Glaci" is Latin for ice and "hal" or "hel" is Latin for breath. I added the "-us" to imitate how many subspecies names also end "-u", such as Thymus praecox articus for Elfin Thyme.

Dvalinn is an old Norse name meaning "slumbering." His last name, Chrysalis, implies that he will emerge changed, like a butterfly, once he is done with his apprenticeship under Chuff.

I picked Varanasi in India for the location as it's one of the oldest cities in India and the world, having been inhabited since about the 11^th or 12^th century B.C., so it must have a sizable wizarding population, having been around for so long.

Dhoti sherwanis are the long frock coat suit with the gathered loose pants, paired together as a suit.

Methemoglobinemia is a rare genetic blood disorder that can cause the person to have blue skin; otherwise, the people are perfectly healthy. To see photos of this condition, Google "Blue Skin Appalachia". There is a small genealogical pool of people in the Appalachian region who have this condition, and they have been featured in some news stories.
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And They Didn\'t Live Happily Ever After