Love And Revolution

V

But they had to be prepared for things to go sideways as well; if they were found out and yet somehow managed to give them the slip, they would have to remain as fugitives for who knows how long. So they had to take the necessary measures for that possibility too, so that they had everything that they might need for living the life of an outlaw.

The only advantage was that none of them were unfamiliar with that kind of life and the both of them were fully committed to the cause. Hermione was a little ambivalent at first but then she figured that she would have to get used to being around her ex-Potions Master. And he seemed to have grown to tolerate her better over the days that they spent preparing for their journey.

They had apparated together once in the middle of this, only for a brief period, straight inside Hermione's home, in order for her to take a change of clothes, toiletries and other necessities, her old purse that she had used while she and the boys were on the run and some books and muggle money. Snape had mostly emptied out his modest savings from his Gringotts bank account beforehand as well, not sure how long they'd be stuck in their predicament. Hermione couldn't access her account yet as she couldn't risk travelling to the bank. 

Snape had chivalrously offered her his bed to sleep in till the day they were to intrude into the Ministry, although Hermione tried to dissuade. "I can take the couch," she said, but he snapped, "Don't argue with me about this too, Granger!" and that was that. But it didn't really matter, since he was invested day and night in brewing potions. He had let her pillage his pantry and cook herself whatever she felt like since he didn't have enough time for proper meals anyway. Usually he just stuffed a mouthful of leftovers and got back to work.

It was a stroke of luck that Snape had already had many potions on the way so that they didn't have to wait a month to get the polyjuice potion ready, but there were batches of it to be made along with other potions that they would want to keep handy in case of an emergency.

After that eventful night, Snape had brusquely sent her off to lie down while he remained busy with brewing. Throughout the next few days, he had been constantly vigilant about Hermione, making sure that there weren't any side-effects related to her concussion and only agreed to embark upon this journey when she assured him that she was in perfect health. Even this morning when she had appeared beside him with a plate of food, he had asked after her and brought her another pain-relief potion, before touching his breakfast.

"Drink this, Granger," he ordered in his usual sardonic way, before returning his attention to his work.

"I thought we would be able to do away with all forms of sophistry by now." she remarked, accepting the vial from him and swallowing the contents. He gave her a sideways glance but chose not to reply. He maintained a stern countenance anyway; in her company he found it easy to resume his pedagogical mannerisms. She realized he was using petulance as a form of deflection of attention from what otherwise might have been considered a thoughtful act. 

"Unfortunately, I've not had the opportunity to disguise the taste with some artificial sweeteners today- I'm afraid, I've run out of honey." he said, before she got the chance to complain. But there were other things to deal with at the moment, bigger things that must be his priority right now, yet he was continuing to care for her and provide for her needs. On impulse, she decided to respond to the action rather than the words.

"Thank you," she said mildly, "It was kind of you to take the trouble."

Snape looked at her, as if wondering whether she was mocking him, but when he realized that she wasn't, he silently accepted her gratitude. Then he continued to stir the ladle, his head almost immersed in the cauldron.

Hermione bounced about his shoulder. "Is there anything I can do to help? I'm not rubbish at potion-making, you know. I hope you haven't forgotten?"