Teapaper

The air was no longer tense by the time they arrived back at Snapes home, instead a silent intensity had permeated the small amount of space between them. The truths that had hung in the air between them in the library had settled tentatively in the background. She heard the rustle of papers and of several heavy things- books probably, being dropped on to another hard surface and then Severus was guiding her into a chair. She could hear the slide of a book being placed in front of her and tentatively she reached her hand out to touch it. Opening the cover she found the pages to be smooth as expected.

“Erm, not to point out the obvious but- “ Hermione started when she heard him sit.

“Lecta haec verba.” He cut in. “A simple downward motion will do. It will be clunky as it will always start at the top of the page since you can’t aim whilst blind.”

Hermione froze. Such a spell didn’t exist. She’d looked. She’d asked around. Opening her mouth to do something akin to saying thank you once Severus cut her off again.

“Did you think I wasn’t going to make you pull your weight? I know full well there’s a brain in there that’s worth the space it takes up. I expect you to put up a muting charm around you so I don’t have to listen to the spell’s awful voice.” He sneered. Hermione couldn’t help the smile that stretched across her face.

Doing as instructed with the muting charm, it took a few tries to get the spell to work properly but she certainly let out a squeal of joy when it did. He hadn’t been lying about the awful voice the spell used to dictate but Hermione couldn’t be bothered to care much about it. Braille wizarding texts simply didn’t exist save for a very select few that were not for sale en masse.

The book was quite dryly written for how hair raising some of the subjects inside were. A multitude of curses swam in her head with highly descriptive explanations for their uses. She’d been about to partake in her fifth yawn of the afternoon and ask about the loo when the grating voice began on a section of servitude charms.

“The charm ‘intocado para mim’ , (wording modified to a current dialect) comes from a small community that spoke an early dialect Portuguese that was highly regarded for their prowess in regards to slavery throughout the early Twelfth century and stretched through the Fifteenth Century when a tragic Endemic of a certain Blood Malediction overtook the whole community, removing the entire population of slaves and their masters. The charm itself translates loosely to “Untouched for me” and is widely thought to revert pleasure slaves to an untouched physical state however, no scholars have ever been able to understand the mechanics of the spell enough to make it work to further understand its effects as the true spell has been lost to time.”

Hermione straightened up in her chair as the spell nattered on, having moved on to the next section. Grabbing her wand she paused the spell and dropped the silencing charm.

“I think I found something maybe. It’s the first thing I’ve heard that even mentions touch at least.” She said pushing the book forward on the table.

The slide of the book across the table and Snape’s quiet breathinbg was all she heard for several long minutes.

“If the scholars are right, this is closer to a healing spell.” Severus said, and the book slid back to touch her fingertips. Hermione pulled it back towards her.

“What if they’re wrong? I think we need to find the original spell and see if there’s another translation. A healing spell sounds like an awful waste of energy when potions existed back then.” Her mind was whirling, grabbing on to the tendril of hope that the spell offered and leaving her chest feeling both light and heavy at the same time.

“Perhaps. Mark it down.”
She nodded and dutifully stuck small sheet of paper in the book before turning the page to start the spell back up.

One chapter later Severus stopped them to eat and Hermoine’s bladder finally got relief.

Severus was the first to break the silence over their meal of beans and toast with tea.

“I’ve been thinking about the parameters of your curse. The loopholes. It seems to be not entirely dependent on the other person but on you as well.” Hermione stopped chewing and looked up out of habit.

“What do you mean?”

“I watched you. You are obviously able to touch yourself with no issues and do self-care duties and while you understandably avoid it, you are able to touch others at will.”

“Yes…” Hermione wasn’t sure where he was going with this but her stomach flipped uncomfortably anyway.

“What happens when you touch someone who isn’t willing?”

A bean splattered on the table as Hermiones toast paused midair.

“I… I don’t know.” The train of thought that Severus was following was suddenly achingly clear.

“You’re telling me you’ve never touched someone who didn’t want touched? I find that hard to believe- strongheaded, bulldozing Gryffindor that you are.” He drawled.

Hermione tried to muster a glare in his direction, but it died out quickly with the truth of the matter; she didn’t remember. “Maybe before all this I did.”

“Hm. Then I see we have discovered another avenue to explore.” Severus said over the tinkling of his spoon against his mug.

“And you expect us to test that… how?” H3ermoine asked, viciously biting in to her toast.

“Don’t be obtuse, you’ll touch someone who doesn’t want you to touch them.” Came his smooth reply without a moment’s hesitation. Anger bubbled up in her chest from some well deep and unknown.

“And where are we finding one of those? Just take a jaunt down the street stopping the passers-by with a ‘Oh pardon do you mind if she touches you? Don’t mind if she screams- its normal.’?” She snapped

“No.” Snapes' reply was unhurried if not a little terse.

“Then what?” Hermione pushed her plate away to glare aimlessly at the space before her where she assumed Snape sat.

“You’ll touch me.”

The anger sputtered out like a wet candle, replaced by something heavy that she refused to name.

“We’ve touched more today than I’ve willingly touched another person since the battle. I don’t see how touching you will be helpful.” She grumbled as she felt around for her tea only for the cup to be pushed against her fingertips.

“It won’t be a problem. Tell me, if you were to be able to touch someone with no repercussions- what would you do?”

“What an odd question!”

“Not particularly- many would answer with violence of one sort or another. Many have.” His voice took a darker tone for a moment and Hermione understood the implications immediately. The scar on her arm burned.

They sat in silence for many long moments, only the clink of mugs on the table to tell Hermione that they both still sat in the same room.

“I want you to think of your answer Granger. Tomorrow evening I expect you to have it and be ready to act upon it.”