FIC: Take These Stars Down To The World, Chapter Ten; SSHG

[teddy_radiator]

Title: Take These Stars Down To The World
Rating: R
(Highlight to View) Warning(s): Reference to domestic violence, character death
(Highlight to View) Prompt: Hermione creates a potion just for Severus, one which he doesn't believe he wants or needs (SS/HG or SS & HG)
Note: Special thanks to stgulik, not only for the delicious prompt, but for her Herculean effort to pull this together. Thank you for putting up with me. This chapter takes a lot of inspiration from Coldplay's song, Atlas.

This story is inspired by the film Chocolat, which in turn was based on the novel Chocolat by Joanne Harris. This fanfic is based on characters and situations created by J. K. Rowling, and owned by J. K. Rowling and various publishers, including but not limited to: Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books, Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended by the posting of this fanfic.

Summary: Severus' business, Potions Potentes, is not doing very well. In fact, he plans to shut his doors for good. Just when all seems lost, Hermione Granger arrives in town to open her own apothecary, bringing with her a very special brew. What exactly is she up to, and what exactly is this cure-all potion of hers? If there is one thing Severus knows more than most, it is that nothing is ever given without a price.

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Chapter Ten: Potions Potentes

Severus woke with a jangling start, his heart hammering in his chest. He took several deep breaths, trying to dissipate the adrenalin coursing through his bloodstream. What had woken him?

His room was flooded with light. Dazedly, he swung his legs over the side of the bed; he rarely, if ever, overslept─

The crashing sound of broken glass brought him to his feet, and to his horror, he realised it was not daylight he was seeing at all.

Hermione's shop was engulfed in flames.

He Apparated directly from his bedroom to Hermione's front door, but the heat of the blaze was so fierce he reeled away, coughing. "Extinguetus!" he cried. A massive ball composed of ice and thick, powdery dust flew from his wand. It traveled straight through what had been the front door, where it burst on impact, smothering most of the ground floor flames. On the first floor, the fire continued to rage, a blinding, searing beast that swayed and roared like a rampaging lion.

"Hermione!" he shouted, but he could barely hear his own voice over the din. Despair twisted his gut. Surely no one was still in there. Granger was a resourceful witch; whatever happened here, she would have escaped with the Belldon woman and her boy. She would never have allowed any harm to come to them. Even now she was probably at St. Mungo's, getting them all checked out─

He heard a high-pitched scream from above, and he flew up to the first floor, his eyes slitted against the black smoke. Hovering outside one of the blown-out windows, he saw Hermione lying on the floor, and a small shape huddled beside her. Severus cast Extinguetus over and over, tamping down the worst of the isolated spot blazes, until he could venture into the room. He cast a Bubblehead Charm, then flew through the window.

Hermione was bound by a complex set of knotted ropes. She was unconscious, but breathing. Anthony, his face blackened with smoke and bleeding from the mouth, recognised Severus and reached for him, wailing, "I didn't mean to do it! I didn't mean to do it!"

Without pausing to examine the significance of the boy's words, Severus unceremoniously snatched him up by the waist. He levitated Hermione, then grasped her by the wrist. As he began to spin into his Apparation, Severus' blood turned to ice, and he nearly splinched them all.

A few yards away, a figure dressed in a solid sheet of flame was running in screaming, deadly circles, frantically batting at the fire devouring it like a capering demon straight from hell…

As Apparations went, it was not his finest hour. The three of them landed with a crash on the floor of his bedroom, and Hermione regained consciousness with a wrenching cry of pain. She drew in a deep breath, as if it were the first in years, coughing and gagging. Severus vanished the ropes, and ran a quick and dirty diagnostic spell over her. She had cracked ribs and a broken nose, and that was just for starters. He staunched the blood from her streaming nose, and hastily healed the cut on Anthony's lip.

Hermione attempted to sit up, but he put his hand on her shoulder, and pressed her to the floor. "Don't move, Hermione. You have two broken ribs. I don't want you to puncture a lung."

She grasped his sleeve, her bloodied eyes wild with panic. "C-Cynthia," she gasped, drawing in a pained breath. "Get Cynthia, please, Sev…"

"Do you mean she is in there?" he demanded, but Hermione was already sinking back into unconsciousness. He turned to the boy. "Anthony? Is your mother really in there?"

Anthony raised his pitiful eyes to Severus. They were swimming with tears, huge and hopeless in his smoke-streaked face. "I didn't mean to do it," he repeated in a quaking whisper.

Severus' heart dropped, and he thought of the blazing figure he had seen dancing in the . Please, by all that is holy… "Wait here," he commanded, and Apparated back into the building.

The fire was losing momentum, but black smoke still boiled in the room, clouding his vision. The old structure was already groaning under its weight; it would collapse in on itself soon. The burning figure was nowhere to be seen. Severus frantically looked around, calling Cynthia's name. He cast another series of fire-smothering spells until the flames were completely extinguished. Syphoning the smoke from the room, he finally spotted Cynthia lying at the head of the stairs.

Miraculously, she had fallen between the stairwell and the landing, which had protected her from the worst of the fire and smoke. Severus dashed to her side, hoarsely calling out, "Madam Belldon! Cynthia! Can you hear me?" The floor around her was sticky with blood. Her blonde hair, stained with soot, hung in a curtain over her face. He brushed it away, and recoiled at the blank, cloudy eyes staring up at him. Kneeling beside the prone figure, he checked for a pulse. He found none. A sick helplessness overcame him as he gathered Cynthia up in his arms. Unsteadily, he rose, cradling her to his chest. As he prepared himself to Apparate to St Mungo's, he spotted the blackened, misshapen lump on the far side of the room.

Chester Belldon was now little more than a pathetic bundle of charred flesh and blackened bones. Severus could not help him now. The floor beneath his feet shifted; the building was going. He Apparated away to St Mungo's, with Cynthia Belldon's body in his arms, just as Medicura Apothecaria folded in on itself and crashed to the ground.

Potions Potentes

Hermione was having the oddest dream. She was flying into the night sky, but not on a broom. She soared and swooped like a bird riding thermals; it was a liberating, exhilarating feeling. In the hot summer night, the wind that pressed against her face was uncomfortably warm. Her nostrils were filled with the smoky aroma of chocolate.

Higher and higher she flew, until she was surrounded by the black curtain of the heavens, with only the stars for company. They were so beautiful and bright and cold, and some selfish part of Hermione whispered she should hide them away all for herself. Greedily she reached out and gathered them up, like fireflies in a jar.

"No," a deep voice admonished, and she turned to find Severus beside her. He plucked them from her grasping hands. "The only way you will keep them is to give them away. We do not ask The Gift for what we want. The Gift tells us what we need."

He flung the stars out over the night. Hermione watched as they fell down, down, into other waiting hands. They glittered and winked in a million prisms of light and colour, like a fistful of diamonds strewn across a black velvet table. As they skittered away, she felt more than heard his low, hypnotic voice in her ear: "We do not ask The Gift for what we want. The Gift tells us what we need. Do you hear me, Hermione? Her…"

"…'mione? Hermione, can you hear me? Open your eyes, love."

She woke with a start, sending a dull-knife stab of pain down her side.

"Easy, now. Don't undo all my good work."

Her eyes flew open. Ron was sitting by her side, holding out a glass of water and a pain potion. "Now, I've got strict instructions from Snape himself, so it's more than my job's worth to muck them up." He uncorked the potion and pressed it to her lips. "Bottoms up," he commanded, and poured the contents down her throat.

It was without a doubt the vilest thing she had ever tasted. Her expression must have shown her revulsion, because Ron quickly pressed a glass of water into her hands. "He said you'd probably want this after."

Hermione desperately chased the potion with water. "Ugh," she gasped, swallowing hard. "Cure…worse’n…disease," she panted.

"Yeah, but to be fair, he did say desperate times call for desperate measures," Ron commiserated cheerfully. "Meself, I think the git makes them taste that way on purpose. Can't risk you enjoying yourself, can he?"

"Shh." Behind Ron, Lavender walked into view. She was holding Anthony in her arms, rubbing his back soothingly. "See? Hermione's all right, love. I told you she would be."

The potion must have indeed been made of stern stuff; in a matter of moments, Hermione's head cleared, and the pain in her side diminished to a dull roar. She glanced around at her spartan surroundings. "Where am I?" she croaked. Her voice sounded muffled and nasal to her ears.

"You're in Snape's bed right now. Lucky old you," Ron replied with a strained smile. "I set your ribs and reset your broken nose. See, all those years patching up Quidditch players didn't go to waste, now did they? How do you feel?"

"Wha-" Her memory came back with a jolt, and she sat up, or rather, attempted to sit up. Another burst of pain robbed her of breath, and she sobbed. "The shop… It's all gone…"

"Here now! Don't go spare on me. Just lie back. It took forever to stop your nose bleeding. Hey, you don't want to the be the one to explain to ol' Snape how all that blood got on his sheets, now, do ya?"

Hermione took a large, experimental breath. When it hurt, she exhaled. "It was Chester Belldon," she rasped. Her throat was raw, her nose clogged. "He broke in…snapped my wand.." She looked up at Lavender. "Where's Cynth-"

"Snape's at St Mungo's with Cynthia," Lavender explained quickly. She gave Anthony's head a tender stroke. "He got you and Anthony out of the building, but she needed some… some extra help." She shook her head, her eyes telegraphing what she could not say.

Hermione remembered Cynthia's pleas, her fear-maddened eyes, that horrible moment Belldon struck her. Her heart sank. “Oh no…” She pulled herself together. "How did you get here? I remember Severus Apparating us here, and then..."

Ron relieved Lavender of Anthony's sleeping form, and placed him in a small cot Transfigured from a packing crate. "As much as we’ve been able to put together," he said, as he pulled a coverlet over the child, "Snape woke up and saw the fire. He brought you and Anthony over here and went back for Cynthia. Shortly after that, I get woke up with Snape’s bloody great doe Patronus standing on my chest, telling me to get my arse over to his gaff to make sure you were alright. He was proper worried about you, I could tell, but he thought he might be needed at hospital." He looked troubled. Lowering his voice, he added, "It's pretty bad, Hermione. I don't think-"

There was a soft pop of Apparation, and the three adults turned to see Severus standing in the room. He looked exhausted; stubbled face, smoke-reddened eyes, singed robes. He glanced at Hermione, and seemed to uncoil a bit. "Thank you, Mister Weasley, Miss Brown. Your help tonight has been invaluable."

Lavender approached Severus; he answered her unspoken question with an almost imperceptible shake of his head. Lavender’s shoulders dropped, and she turned away, wiping a tear from her pale face. She sat down heavily beside Ron, and he put his arms around her.

In the awful silence, Severus turned to Hermione, his expression grim and shuttered. Hermione did not want to use The Gift. She did not ask to use The Gift. But looking at his unreadable eyes, his stiff posture, his distance, The Gift used her. Gone. All gone…

Anthony awoke, and rubbed his sleepy eyes. "Where's Mummy?" he asked softly.

Severus swallowed, and lowered his head. "Anthony, would you come here, please?"

The boy slid out of the makeshift bed with a resigned reluctance. He closed the distance cautiously, fearfully─this was a child trained to expect the worst when a man summoned him. Almost cowering with apprehension, he faced Severus, but refused to look at him. To Hermione's surprise, Severus took the boy's tiny hands in his large ones. With great gentleness, he said, "Anthony, you know what happened tonight."

The boy nodded, and began to breathe harder. "It was a fire," he said, his voice no louder than a whisper.

"Yes. Your mother..." Severus sighed. "The healers at St Mungo's tried very, very hard to help her, but in the end, her injuries were too severe. Her body… could not recover." He glanced up at the adults. "The… the baby did not survive, either. I'm sorry. "

Anthony seemed to crumple under the weight of Severus' words. "Mum's dead. They're all dead." It wasn't a question, and it wasn't a statement. It was a reparation, a penance.

"Gods," Hermione whimpered. "Oh, Anthony, I'm so sorry, love." She looked beseechingly up at Severus, but this time he was the one who refused to raise his eyes.

Lavender knelt beside the boy, and he laid his head against her breast. "Anthony, sweetie, do you have a Nan or an Auntie or anyone we can contact? We need to let them know you're safe, at least."

"No," he replied as he pulled away. "It was just me and Mum. It was always just me and Mum." He turned to Severus. "Will they arrest me now?"

Severus frowned. "Arrest you? Why?"

"For killing my dad."

Lavender glanced at Hermione, her expression baffled. "Darling, you didn't kill your dad."

Anthony was nodding. "I did. Dad said he would kill Mum, and he did! He threw her on the floor and she didn't move anymore." He looked at Severus beseechingly, tears pooling in his eyes. "I didn't mean to. Not really. But he hurt my mum!"

Severus turned to Hermione, and she flinched beneath his intense, penetrating gaze. "Do you mean to tell me that the fire was a result of Anthony's spontaneous magic?"

Hermione thought of the dust devils swirling around his feet, the unconfined magic warbling through the room seconds before it burst into flames. Anthony had warned Belldon, but the fool was too drunk and angry to see what was truly happening. It was as if the boy had been in an altered state, a trance of sorts; she had seen similar states in Guatemala when the Fellowship of the Criollo were caught up in the ecstacy of the Tripoćion...

Anthony, his mouth smeared with chocolate, his little cream moustache as he licked the last dregs from his cup. Her special hot chocolate, made from the rarest and most highly prized Criollo, one of the three magical cacao in the Tripoćion.

Her eyes met Severus'. "No, Anthony," she said. "I did it. I’m the one who started the fire."

Ron's eyes widened. "You did, Hermione? How?"

“It was an accident. A horrible, terrible accident, and I’m so sorry.”

Anthony shook his head, confused. "No. I felt it. I said it,” he pleaded, turning to Lavender. Plaintively, he added, “Don’t you see? I'm the one who told Dad I would burn him down."

Hermione grimaced with pain as she hauled herself upright. She drew Anthony close, and stroked his dark head. "Listen to me, darling. You are going to make a marvelous wizard when you grow up. I have no doubt you will. But you didn't start that fire. That kind of magic is something you're just too young to create.” She rushed on to silence his protests. “This was my fault. I was very angry at your dad. He struck you and your mother. He broke my wand, and hurt me and tied me up with ropes. And then I saw him pick you up, and I just snapped. Ron can tell you, when I'm angry, I can… " She looked at Ron. "I can do wandless magic."

Ron frowned. "Well, you do have a temper, Hermione, but I don't see─"

"I used wandless magic, Ron," she repeated emphatically, shooting him a glare a blind man could read. She turned back to the confused boy. "But I didn't control it well. What happened was an accident. I didn't mean for it to happen, but I caused it just the same." Her own tears streamed down her heat-blistered cheeks, burning them like acid. "But you are not to blame. You did nothing wrong."

Anthony searched her eyes with the intensity of a Legilmens. Finally, doubt began to blur the lines, and he whimpered, "I didn't do it? It w-wasn't me?"

Hermione kissed his forehead. "No love. It wasn't you at all."

His courage failed him then; he blindly turned to Lavender, who drew him into her arms, crooning. With a wail of loss, he buried his face in her shoulder and cried as if his heart would break.

Severus looked from the grieving child to Hermione, his expression pensive. Crossing his arms over his chest, he said, "It was an accident, of course. A tragic one, but an accident nonetheless. And that is how it will be treated."

Exhaustion and pain pressed down on Hermione like lead, and she lay back. She felt Severus' weight settle as he sat on the bed beside her. His large, warm hand soothingly stroked her forehead. She met his strained, bloodshot eyes, and saw both understanding and apology. So quietly only she could hear, he mused, "Who's to say who brought down fire from the gods? They took Prometheus at his word because they never question motive or blame." With a bitter sigh, he added, "They don't care, Hermione. They just want someone to pay for it."

His resigned expression broke her, and Hermione gave herself over to her guilt. She turned away from the sound of Anthony’s sobs, and allowed Severus to comfort her.



Chapter Eleven

Comments

[snapebraille4tu.livejournal.com]

Oh that poor child- Hermione absolving him- the large warm hand stroking her forehead afterwards- this is so good.

Cynthia and her unborn child and the abusive shit of a father all gone...who will care for Anthony now?

I am trying to get the smell of charred wood and cloth out of my mind!

Thanks for the update, lovey.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Thank YOU. This wasn't a very easy chapter to write. It is a testament to my Muse, though, that I was in such a hurry to finish that I just unplugged and let D take over. I've had the chance to augment it a bit since, but the story arc itself is the same. I just remember Stgulik messaging me and saying, "Oh, hell. She died." It was a tough moment. I had killed an innocent character. It's hard to do that and not feel bad about it.

Unless you're GRR Martin, of course.

[snapebraille4tu.livejournal.com]

Can you say RED WEDDING?!?!

No, I think Cynthia dying made a lot of sense. It was heartbreaking, but truthful.

Xo

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Red Wedding, indeed! ;)

Yes, I wish I didn't get so attached, but in all honesty, I just write what I'm given. I think DMuse does that purposely; if I knew from the beginning poor Cynthia would have to wear the red shirt, I think I would have just frozen up and not written anything.

[beffeysue.livejournal.com]

This chapter has scattered my emotions all over the place. Chester Belldon got what he deserved, but I'm so sorry that it came as a result of Anthony's spontaneous child's magic, and I hope he never questions what Hermione told him about his father's death.

The way you described Cynthia's blood loss after Chester hit her in the stomach, I had an idea that it would be a fatal blow. That child tried so hard to protect his mother, but it wasn't enough. I hope he gets to live with Lavender and Ron who already seem to love him, and he them.

What will happen with Severus and Hermione? I hope they love like there's no tomorrow and grow old together with children of their own.

Mostly I want Anthony to be surrounded with people who love him and each other.

Thank you for sharing this awesome story with us! It's got it all.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for your lovely comments, Beffey. I was afraid, (and still am) that this chapter seemed awfully rushed and a bit heavy-handed. I was hurrying to much to complete it, and I did do a little tweaking afterward, but I have been worried it would be just too much. I really appreciate your encouraging comments more than I can say.

[arwitchywoman.livejournal.com]

I do hope Lavendar takes in Anthony as a foster. It would be good for both of them.
I am also glad this ends with Snape comforting our gal.

Next chapter, please!

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I will try to get it done today but it will be a little later - I've got a certain person visiting tomorrow and I need to get the house cleaned up so you won't run screaming away! ;)

[mywitch.livejournal.com]

You lucky ladies - I wish I could pop over! :)

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

I wish you could, too - the only fly in the ointment is that our A/C appears to have crapped out. It's currently 86 degrees in the house and this is not a happy Teddy. We probably won't be able to get it repaired until next week because of work committments.

[mywitch.livejournal.com]

May I suggest mojitos made with coconut rum? Perfect while boiling alive in one's own skin. <3

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

That definitely sounds like a good response to the situation! I adore coconut rum. And limes. And mojitos...

[mywitch.livejournal.com]

My friend Wilbert turned me on to them several weeks ago. The mint and coconut together are a match made in heaven.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

I can imagine! A friend of mine years ago turned me onto Malibu and Coke (guess what typo I used on that one?). I don't actually drink many sodas now, but I loved the flavours together. Coconut rum is so versatile.

[mywitch.livejournal.com]

rim and cocks for everyone! hold the ice

[arwitchywoman.livejournal.com]

LOL I prefer more chapters and a messy house than the other way around! Messy is my natural habitat.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

{{{HUGS}}} you like mad! ♥

[nocturnus33]

So sad! Cynthia death was awful but make a lot of sense in a way.
Hermione blaming herself to absolve Anthony is an act of deep kindness and love.

...and Severus?

Severus rocks!.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

I think Severus works best when he is reactive like this. I think as a character he tends to 'think too much'. When he is going purely on instinct, I think he really shines.

[hbart.livejournal.com]

Wow, this was quite a chapter. Nothing happens, and everything happens.

First, Lavender is a character I usually feel lukewarm about, but you've really made her something special here. And dear Ron, he gets abused so often in fanfic all because people ship SS/HG. But it makes no sense to villify him, just to keep him from Hermione. He can still be a wonderful person and just not get the girl. You've handled him very well in this story and I'm grateful you've taken good care of him.

Poor Anthony, so sad and so scared of what he's done. I think Severus and Hermione care for Anthony, but I'm not sure they have it together enough to raise a child. Lavender, on the other hand, seems quite smitten, and she seems to have some natural nurturing tendencies. Perhaps it's a good match. It's hard to believe that not long ago, her life was a wreck.

And Hermione, sparing Anthony the trauma of killing his parents. That was such an enormous gesture. Let's don't let Severus start feeling guilty for encouraging Cynthia to leave, or for putting Hermione's life, shop, and home in danger. I hope instead the tide has turned on their relationship. So you really need to post the next chapter ... NOW!!

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Nothing happened??? Man, I have to work harder!

I have always liked Ron as a character, but like you I just never saw him as being right for Hermione. I think he and Lavender made a better couple, to be honest. They were just two hormonal teenagers in the books. I think they would have both grown into great people and would have been great together.

I hope it made sense that in Hermione's mind, since she had given Anthony a drink made with an ingredient that was used to manifest and augment magic, she was in effect responsible for what happened. It could be argued that while Anthony just happened to strike the spark, it was Hermione who gave him the flint.

I will try and post the remainder of the story (about two more chapters) today, but it will be later on this evening.

[hbart.livejournal.com]

Lol! I didn't exactly mean to say nothing happens. In my mind, the last chapter was the nail biting action chapter, and this is what I call an aftermath chapter. Thesekind of chapters are what separates the men from the boys. Yes, plenty happened, but it was reactionary in nature. I almost like these kind best. And, I think Severus acting on impulse typically works out better because he isn't second guessing everything. And yes, more, more, more!

[mywitch.livejournal.com]

This was wonderful and horrifying and scary and real and great. Little Anthony is such a lovable character - I don't know if I'd rather Lavender and Ron adopt him or Severus and Hermione...
You really have a way of engaging me as a reader - all through fancy dinner at fancy French restaurant, my mind kept drifting back to this - particularly the part where Severus scatters the stars. Amazing imagery.
Girl, you are rocking this!
💖

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I am very proud I can be such a distraction - not much can distract me from food, as you can tell ;)

[mywitch.livejournal.com]

It actually is pretty impressive, considering I was having halibut in champagne sauce. Mmmmmmmmmm.