„What‘s so disturbing, then“, he poured her two fingers of firewhiskey, watched her frowned expression through the flames and then added another, „That the brightest witch of her age winds up on my doorstep at this time of night?“
She gave an indistinct sound.
“I‘ve heard you bury yourself in files these days, so how come you‘ve left your desk after a mere - help me here, Miss Granger - how many hours a day would you pull through? Twelve? Can‘t have been more than ten, today. Not nearly up to your standards.“
His teasing did the trick. „Bugging someone over an acceptable achievement means you‘re sticking to yours, I presume“, she muffled, nipping at the whiskey.
“Obviously“, Snape smiled.
She allowed him to savour the satisfaction and a gulp of whiskey for her own amends.
“Now I‘m curious“, he commented, watching her pace.
“Everything I tell you -“, she began, as the heat drained down her throat, through her stomach and the usual smoke bulbs puffed from her nostrils, „is strictly confidential. Not a word to a soul. Living or dead, split or hole or in whatever condition you can think of.“
“You know, I‘ve always wondered whether magic portraits counted as living, since -„
“STOP nagging me“, she snapped. Snape did not loose his cool, but allowed himself to raise an eyebrow. „I need to lash out about this on someone, and since you‘re the only one who has proven themselves able to actually keep a secret with no vows or decor, you really are my only option for it.“
“You‘ve got my full and undivided attention, Miss Granger.“
“Hermione“, she replied, „I‘m on your couch and plan to get seriously drunk, so it‘s Hermione for tonight.“
“Hermione, then.“ The absence of emotion was all too familiar, quite the neatly closed-up attitude suitable for only double-agents and a master spy. Hermione took another gulp, poured herself another inch and her heart to him.
“I‘ve been on the OC files all week“, she began, „And most of them make reasonable, well-documented claims why their memories prevent them from getting on with rather normal, peaceful lives. There‘s Amos Diggory. Requested an obliteration for all memories of his son, and the substitute identity of a kettle farmer, as he grew up on one and still keeps five cows. Got no issues here. I mean, he‘s really lost it all since his wife took that bullet.“
„Rather unexpected, was it?“
“Yeah, no one expected her to take her life eventually, not five years later“, Hermione sighed. „But here‘s the thing - I do understand why Amos made a petition. He‘s patches his life together once, says he does not have the strength to do it twice. Then there‘s Alby McKinnon - you wouldn‘t have heard of that, it‘s rather recent. She learned about being a witch with her Hogwarts letter, quite like I did. Came from an orphanage, this one, skinny girl, shy but talented, Slughorn informs me.“
“What house did she get sorted into?“, Snape inquired.
“His own“, Hermione confirmed his suspicions. „Rings a bell with me, too. So the teachers have been watching her closely over the entire year, and she‘s getting more and more depressed. I mean - imagine growing up thinking you were alone in the world, then learning about your all-magic family, and then someone pulls the rug from underneath you, saying they‘re all dead - when you could have talked to them if you had known some two years earlier?“
The whiskey had started to work his magic on her. The burning sensation of the liquid slowly turning into a vague, pleasant warmth, her mood got slightly better. Her rage had to be evaporating with the smoke through her nose every time she took a sip.
“So I do not mind her filing a motion for obliteration, too. Comittee will approve, probably.“
“But there are cases you can‘t quite understand people‘s wish for getting rid of their memories from wartimes?“
“I wouldn‘t go as far as not understanding them“, she replied, kicking off her shoes and swinging herself cross the thick arms of the settle, as if they had arranged for a movie night and waited for the pizza to arrive. „But in some cases, I tend to support Mr Yaffin‘s opinion.“
“It‘s true, then?“, Snape interrupted. „The Ministry really hired -“
“- a muggle psychologist, yeah“, she confirmed. „He‘s adapted quite well, honestly. Gave up on the med‘s they prescribed him for his ‚hallucinations‘ and even has been seen in the Leaky cauldron. Sticks to non alcoholic beverages, as far as I‘ve heard.“
“So Shacklebolt has him followed?“
“He‘s be an idiot not to“, Hermione mumbled, „After all, he‘s one of only handful of non-magical individuals we‘ve revealed the magical community to. And most others are squibs, so they don‘t count, not quite.“
“Was it worth it?“, Snape said.
“He‘s pretty good at his job, if that‘s what you‘re asking“, she answered.
She was certain anyone other than the master-spy would have missed the subtle change in her tone, but he did not disappoint her.
“He‘s the reason you‘re here. Whatever‘s bothering you, it‘s got to do with him.“ It was a statement, not a question.
“He‘s quite good at his job in fostering the re-integration of war-ridden individuals into society, and victims of curses in particular“, she muttered into her glass.
“I‘ll need another hint, I‘m afraid.“
“Remember that imbecile Jenkins from Magical Law Enforcement? The one who messed up the arrest of Shenning down there in Brighton?“
“Vaguely“, Snape admitted. „Not in the Daily Prophet, was it?“
“Probably not“, Hermione said, „Shenning stunned him, though Jankins was supposed to be a superb duelist. Got caught at the train station by wizards who had been visiting friends, and recognized him on the platform.“
“So - overpowered due to rusty dueling skills makes someone an imbecile to you?“, Snape tried to rephrase her point.
“No. Claiming you were much more competent than you really are, with no regard to the consequences, that makes one an imbecile to me.“
“Help me there, please“, Snape admitted his defeat, „What does that have to do with your work on the obliteration committee?“
“He‘s been listed as the wizard who‘d perform most obliviation charms for Law Enforcement“, Hermione sighed, „And not only has Yaffin recognized him on his first day at the office, but I‘ve just tracked down the cases over which they met.“
“I‘m intrigued“, Snape commented at the edge of his seat.
“Seems like Jenkins, that dunderhead, has hardly ever managed to obliviate a person properly“, Hermione complained, slamming her now empty glass on Snape‘s dark and heavy coffee table, „But instead of reporting his fuck-ups and getting someone else to do the job properly, he‘s had them carried off and coffered!“
“Er - where exactly do you coffer badly obliviated - - ah.“
“Yeah“, she said flatly. „Said that they had been roaming the streets, unable to feed or wash themselves unwatched, and locked them up in a nursing home. And guess who pointed out in his assessments that these patients were struck by constant memory loss, mostly in old age?“
“So you know Yaffin‘s good at his job - because you found his reports on former patients, which turned out to actually be badly obliviated wizards?“
“Listed in the archives of the Obliteration Committee, who just emptied out their basement to make room for current cases“, she confirmed. „Yaffin assessed them as showing odd forms of dementia, which presents in various developments, but has shared characteristics.“
He reached for the bottle. “I need another round of whiskey on that, too.“