Senses

Chapter 41

"How is your chest?" Severus paused in his search, glancing to the side.

"Better." Hermione cleared her throat and took a sip of her hot chocolate, "I think I could get back to training today."

"No, you need to rest today." Severus mumbled, pulling out a very old looking leather binder, "Besides, you need a wand."

Hermione hummed softly coming to sit on the edge on the bench at the end of the bed. He'd been a man on a mission since breakfast, though he hadn't yet shared with her what he'd been looking for, he'd gone through at least four trunks that had been hidden away in a cupboard as well as completely gone through his potions cabinet. It was an interesting sight to watch but she really wished she could have been more helpful.

"Well, I can't very well go to Olivander's..." Hermione scratched at her temple, her memories were now only a few years behind of the present year. Shortly after her escape from the Department of Mysteries, though she couldn't really remember much of what had taken place, the scar in the center of her chest made a lot more sense now.

"Quite." Severus grunted pushing himself up to his feet before taking the leather binder over to the table he'd placed into the room. Even if they'd wanted to, Olivander had gone into hiding, it was one of the things the Dark Lord had set to task in his quest for understanding the Elder Wand.

"Perhaps one of these will suffice." Severus pulled the leather string holding the binder in place before unrolling it across the surface. Ten wands sat inside, snuggly held in place with leather loops. They ranged in color, from a deep ash to a solid black, almost like a chromatic of the darkening of his soul. The designs were simple, modest and restrained. Much of his personality represented in simple almost painfully plain order.

Hermione set her mug aside, sensing the shift in the air as she came closer. When she rounded his shoulder her eyes widened and she found herself perplexed, "Are...all these yours?"

"At one time." Severus raised his brow at her lost tone, "Did you think a wizard held the same wand for all time?"

"I...I uh...I guess I never really thought about it..." She'd used her wand since she'd begun, though she had known others who had had to replace their wands for various reasons. She supposed it wasn't so far out of the realm of possibilities that one could replace a wand even if it wasn't damaged.

"Well, perhaps it is time." Severus took a step to the side, allowing her to come to stand in the center of what he had to offer.

Hermione gave him a deep look, "You mean...I can have one of these?"

"I haven't a need for them." Severus tried to keep his voice apathetic but to anyone who'd come to know him as well as she had, she would be able to hear the strain in his voice.

Hermione did her utmost best to show reverence for the hidden undertones and took a small step closer. As he moved away, she turned her eyes to the wands that laid before her. While none of the wands were even close to what she'd had before, she was hardly one to be caught up on appearance. If the wand had been his, even when he was young, she was sure it was powerful.

With another small glance to assure herself that he was really okay with letting her have something so precious, she reached for one of the wands towards the left, a deep ashen brown. When her fingers neared it, the wand let out a small glow before shooting forward from its catch away from her fingers.