Author's Note: Okay, this chapter is a bit short, I know, but I figure you folks have waited more than long enough for it. Gods willing, it will not be another three months before you see more. I have some excellent excuses for my protracted absence, but I doubt you care when this LONG awaited chapter lurks below, so please, read.

As always, many thanks to my wonderful beta, bluefirefly5 for all of the advice and input she continues to donate to this fic.

Old Magic

Chapter V: By Salazar

~.~.{H.*.G}.~.~

"But why would you let me in here if you haven't let anyone else?" I pressed.

"Your magic intrigues me," he smirked. "Not many students have the power to shake the castle."

I blinked as I realized what he was talking about. "I can't possibly be the first in a thousand years to be that powerful," I argued.

His smirk grew a little, "But you're a lot more than merely powerful, aren't you, Hermione?"

"I'm not sure what you're referring to," I responded cautiously, forcibly and repeatedly reminding myself that I was talking to Salazar Slytherin. Portrait or not, assuming that this man's legend hadn't been skewed beyond recognition, this man was reasonably one of the most manipulative wizards to have ever lived – maybe even so much so as to make Albus' machinations plebeian by comparison. I wasn't sure just what harm this portrait could bring on me if he knew too much, but I wasn't ruling anything out. He could evidently manipulate the very corridors of the castle in order to lead me to this room. At the very least, he could make my secrets common knowledge in Hogwarts.

He was looking at me now with what I cautiously read to be fond respect. That didn't entirely make sense to me, but not much about this situation did. I needed a lot more information to understand exactly what was going on. The danger was in how much I'd have to give in order to gather it.

"May I see your wand?" he asked in a way that made me think it definitely pertained to what exactly it was that he liked about me. But then, that made sense if he was aware of the fact that I was in possession of the wand that he'd commissioned.

Cautiously, I drew it out of my sleeve and held it up for him to see.

His eyes became half-lidded with what seemed to be pleasure when he saw it. "A very fine wand," he said finally.

"May I ask why you commissioned this wand?" I asked with a careful lack of expression.

He continued staring at the wand for a moment before his eyes rose again to meet mine. It was chilling how much those eyes reminded me of Severus. It actually made me wonder if there wasn't a relation there, but after a thousand years, it seemed as likely to be coincidence as a genetic throwback. He seemed to consider his response for a long moment before I could see him come to a decision.

"At the opposite end of this room, you will find a bookshelf that appears slightly different from the others. An alohamora will open it. Go through into the next room and I will meet you there."

I stared at him suspiciously, but I didn't get the sense that he meant me any harm. And I was way too curious about how this little trip might pertain to my question to think of refusing. Besides, if I wasn't careful, he might not let me come back, and there were literally thousands of books in this room that I would then not be able to examine.

I rather hoped he wouldn't realize how desperate I was to do that. It would put an awful lot of leverage into the hands of a dangerous portrait.

So, I nodded, and crossed the length of the room, where I found a bookshelf only distinguished from those around it by a small, serpent carved into it at about the height of a handle. I pointed my wand at it and focused carefully, trying to avoid letting the spell become ridiculously overpowered, though I doubted that it would much matter with a simple unlocking charm.

Though I did wonder why anything in Slytherin's private room would be locked by something simply enough to come unlocked in that way. Unless, maybe, the unlocking charm was merely a way to test the magic to determine if it would open. I wasn't sure what criteria it could possibly be searching for, except perhaps that it was something to do with the wand…

The door swung open in response to my charm, and I dismissed those thoughts for the moment and stepped through into a short corridor that opened into a room that… "Sweet Salazar…" I breathed.

The room was… Well, it appeared to be a library. It was about twice the size of the sitting room or lounge or whatever it was that I'd just come from. The ceiling was around the same height and with the same sort of window to the bottom of the lake. The walls were lined with books with four tiers of balconies running around it. The greatest difference, apart from the size, was that the center of the room was filled out with massively tall shelves stretching almost up to the ceiling, and each shelf was likewise filled with books.

I wished desperately that I'd found this in my first year, because the slightly more than six months that I had left at Hogwarts would not be near enough to even make a list of the books that I absolutely had to read from this selection – which was evidently all at least a thousand years old… Which made me realize how impressive the preservation charms must have been for it to all be intact, much less clean after such a span of time…

"The flattery is appreciated, my dear, but unnecessary," I heard from above me and flinched slightly as I turned to find another portrait of Salazar above the door. It was the same size as the other, obviously containing the same individual, but the rest of it was a little different, mostly the fact that he was now sitting behind a desk.

Then I realized what I'd said and crooked a small smile. "It's just an expression," I defended.

"Quite," he smirked. "Now, if you'll proceed to the rear right corner, you'll find another marked bookcase. Access it in the same manner." And then he walked out of the frame.

I stared at the blank portrait for a moment before I started picking my way through the towering stacks. Another alohamora sent at another tiny, carved serpent, led to a long staircase – leading down. Struggling against a suddenly mounting sense of claustrophobia, I took a deep breath and started down the staircase.

After going down what I estimated to be approximately fifty feet, I came to an archway carved in the likeness of two massive snakes twined together. That led into an anteroom with only one door directly across. This one had an ordinary handle.

I hesitated just a moment before opening the door and stepping into…

Sweet mother of Merlin…

It looked exactly like the headmaster's office, if it was decorated by a book-obsessed Slytherin. Actually… The window – yes, it was a window – had exactly the same view as the window from the headmaster's office. The same portraits hung on the walls, except for the one directly behind the desk, which was a smaller – though still the largest in the room – portrait of Salazar.

"Now, Miss Granger-,"

A terrified sort of choking sound came from my throat, but I hardly noticed. "What did you just call me?" I breathed.

Salazar's answering smirk looked a tad… predatory.

"How…?" My gaze flitted around to the other portraits. The same portraits as in Albus' office. "You can hear everything that goes on in the headmaster's office, can't you," I said with numb dread.

The smirk grew to something dreadfully like a grin – a feral one.

It took me a few tries to swallow. I forced my mind to examine the problem instead of rambling pointlessly as it seemed to want to do. "Okay…" I breathed unevenly. "Well, you've not told anyone yet, so…" I took a calming breath, then asked, "What do you want?"

Salazar huffed and chuckled, simultaneously rolling his eyes and shaking his head. Which was altogether much more expressive than I would have expected. "Nothing right now," he finally relented.

I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, he evidently hadn't led me here in order to blackmail me. On the other hand, he could choose to do so at any time. The fact that he didn't want anything at the moment could have meant that he didn't intend to use this for just anything but rather save it for something big. Or it could have meant that he was a portrait and simply didn't have many things he wanted from students. Or maybe he was putting something together that he'd need me for later…

And there was no way for me to know yet.

I desperately hated myself for being foolish enough to assume that the combination of the headmaster's office in the most secure school in Britain – if not the world – and the fact that it belonged to one of the most powerful wizards alive meant that it was absolutely secure. Well, I had officially learned to never speak anything private where any portrait can hear. But wait…

"I don't suppose there's any chance that you're bound to do what the headmaster tells you as a portrait within this school?"

Salazar's smile turned a little bitter, "He would have to find me to give me an order, and I promise you that no headmaster of Hogwarts has ever so much as seen me."

I blinked. I certainly hadn't been expecting that. So Salazar was bound, and he knew that, so he'd been taking precautions for the entirety of the last thousand years to make sure that he wasn't controlled. Interesting. And possible leverage if it was ever necessary, though I really wouldn't want to try to use it unless I was desperate. The odds of it getting turned back against me were too high with someone like Salazar.

"Okay," I nodded to myself. He knew my secrets, but he wasn't going to use them against me now. If he did… I'd just have to weigh the cost against the benefit. If he spread the truth, particularly to the wrong Slytherin, I'd instantly go to the very top of Voldemort's capture-and-interrogate list. Of course, he'd wanted Harry dead for years, and that hadn't worked out really well. No, if I was exposed, I'd deal with it. Even if it meant giving all of my memories to someone else for the Light to use, then volunteering for the mother of all Obliviates – of course that was plan Z at best. If Salazar wanted something reasonable that wouldn't hurt anyone… that I could work with. Otherwise, he was going to find my greatest secret unequal to the task of properly blackmailing me.

"Did you bring me here just to threaten me?" I inquired coolly.

Salazar's brow rose as though he was actually surprised by the question. "That wasn't meant as a threat, Hermione. I simply wanted you to be aware that I was aware. It will make our conversations less tiresome, don't you think?"

I nodded, allowing that, even if I didn't believe it. Whether or not he meant it as a threat, it was. "Then why did you want me to come to this room?" I inquired amicably.

He eyed me as though he knew exactly what my thought process had just been, but he didn't comment on it. "That bookshelf there," he nodded. "On the bottom shelf, right side, there is a book titled, Inheritance. Retrieve it."

Taking a deep breath and trying to push away the remnants of adrenaline inspired by his using my real surname, I did as instructed, withdrawing the large, thin tome that looked like it had been rather new when it was placed under the preservation charms.

"Open it."

I started to follow that instruction, but yanked my hand away when something pierced my middle finger. There was a drop of blood on my finger when I looked at it, and I quickly pressed it to my sleeve, which was thankfully black. I knew better than to let my blood get away from me. Blood could be used for terrible things in the wizarding world.

I sent a sharp look at Salazar, who just widened his eyes innocently and nodded toward the book again.

I glared a moment longer, then very carefully drew the cover back, but it didn't do anything but open like a regular book this time.

That was the extent of it imitating a real book though, because there weren't any actual pages inside. Instead, it opened into an expanded space containing one long, slender box. Thanks to my recent experience, I couldn't help but think it looked very much like a wand box – but like the one for my wand rather than the generic ones that had contained the other wands.

My eyes immediately snapped up to the portrait again. "What is this?" I asked cautiously.

"I am answering your question," he nodded toward the "book". "Open it."

I huffed in frustration. "Is it going to bite me too?"

He chuckled, again giving me a look that was positively fond. "Open it," which did not answer my question at all.

Grimacing, I cautiously withdrew the box, then nearly dropped it when I actually got a good look at it. The box seemed to be entirely silver plated with emeralds inset on the top spelling out "Slytherin". Actually, given the weight of the box, it may have been made from silver rather than being silver plated. The clasp was… identical to the clasp on the box that my wand had come from.

Making an effort to breathe normally, I carefully placed the box on the desk and reached for the clasp…

Which literally bit me.

I yanked my hand away and sent a poisonous glare at Salazar, who seemed to be trying hard to not openly laugh. His shoulders were shaking slightly and his eyes were dancing with mirth. I couldn't help but find his sense of humor annoying. Still, I felt sort of oddly honored to be able to think of the legendary figure in such a… human way.

I pushed that thought away and intensified my glare as I wiped the blood from my finger. "Is it going to do that again?" I demanded.

"Why would it?" he asked as though he really couldn't imagine why I'd even ask that question.

I did not ask him why in the bloody hell it would have done it the first time. Another deep, calming breath, and I opened the box. I mostly expected to find a wand inside. And I also expected it to be somehow greatly impressive. So, I honestly thought that I was prepared for what I'd find.

I was wrong.

Though maybe it shouldn't have surprised me, it did. The wand was impressive, but what really surprised me was how similar it looked to my own wand. It was also made of two woods, and also wound together almost exactly as mine. The grip was also stylized in a serpentine fashion, though on this wand the two types of wood were fashioned into two intertwining snakes, their heads curled away from each other at the very end as though hissing at two people on opposite sides of the wielder. The eyes of each snake were also inset with emeralds, but the scales of the snake were actually some kind of pale, silvery-greenish-gold metal. What was the term…? Green gold? Electrum? The two types of wood… I recognized one as ebony. The other, I couldn't identify, but it was a rather dark brown, considerably lighter than the ebony, but with an interesting grain to it.

Ebony, I knew, was known for the most powerful and indiscriminate of wands. It did not discriminate for or against any sort of magic, making it very good for light or dark arts, healing or killing, etc.

Well, if I'd needed proof that my wand had been commissioned by Slytherin, I'd say this was definitively it.

"Ebony and yew with a chimera hair core," Salazar said quietly, almost reverently. "Thirteen and a half inches."

I tore my eyes away from the magnificent wand to look at the portrait again and blinked when he drew a painted version of the very wand from his own sleeve.

Though maybe it shouldn't have hit me so hard, my jaw still fell. I was looking at Salazar Slytherin's own wand. Not a representation. Not a picture or a painting or a replica. The actual wand that Salazar had used a thousand years ago.

Some part of me that I'd kept very carefully hidden for many years, was squealing like Lavender Brown talking about kissing Michael Corner after the Yule Ball in fourth year. The academic in me was carefully analyzing the staggering historical significance of having Salazar Slytherin's actual, personal wand. The part I'd now come to identify as my Slytherin side was wondering exactly how many fortunes I could get for this wand if I could prove it to have belonged to Slytherin, and then put it up for auction. That same part was trying to identify exactly how many galleons would be worth giving it up. The Gryffindor in me was pointing out that that would be wrong, that it wasn't even mine, and that it should stay with Hogwarts or at least go to a museum if I was going to do anything with it.

Yet another part of me was wondering how many conflicting "parts" a person could really have while still qualifying under a generally accepted standard of sanity.

I pushed away all those thoughts when Salazar startled me by reminding me that he was still there. "Pick it up."

I gaped at him, remembering very well how cautious Ollivander had been to let me touch my wand. How he'd mentioned it reacting violently to the others who'd touched it. How utterly overwhelming the sense of power was from my own wand. My wand that seemed very similar to this in many ways. "Is that actually safe?" I had to press – and I'd be damned if I was touching it if he didn't give me a decent answer to this question.

"For you," was his answer.

I frowned at him for a moment, and recalled that curiosity could be deadly, but… It was SALAZAR SLYTHERIN'S WAND! I couldn't not pick it up, could I?

Cursing myself repeatedly in my head, I tentatively touched the wand with the very tip of my finger.

I frowned when I felt… nothing. I glanced at Salazar again, but he was just watching me with patient expectation. With a sigh, I summoned my Gryffindor courage – or stupidity, depending on who you asked – and picked the damn thing up.

Nothing.

At all.

Like it was just a stick I'd found outside under a tree.

I frowned at the wand, and then at Salazar. I opened my mouth, then forgot what I was going to say when I felt… something. It was a kind of stirring. A recognition. I found myself eyeing the wand cautiously as the feeling began to grow stronger. It felt… curious and… pleased? Beneath the surface there was a humming power that reminded me strongly of my own wand, though it wasn't exactly the same. It certainly didn't seem to fit me as well as my wand, but I knew that I would be able to use it well enough if I ever needed to do so.

A small giggle bubbled its way up my throat, and I started and cut it off quickly. I did not giggle, for Merlin's sake. But this… Even Severus might giggle to be holding Salazar's wand.

My eyes widened. Severus! Merlin, he'd love to see all of this!

"Do you understand the answer to your question now?" Salazar inquired.

I frowned, and it actually took me a moment to recall the question that had started all of this. I'd asked why he'd commissioned my wand. Well, this little detour had certainly been fascinating, but no, I did not see how this answered my question. I just shook my head.

He lifted one eyebrow with a sort of tolerant amusement that was violently reminiscent of Severus. "I commissioned the wand to be suited for someone with magic similar to my own – which is very rare. Almost unique, as you may have guessed by how long the wand remained unclaimed."

Having held both wands, I could believe that, but… "But why would you want to do that?"

"How would I have known the similarities between our magic had I not?" he posed patiently.

I frowned, because that did make sense. But. "But why would you want to know?"

He chuckled quietly, "I do like you, Hermione."

I eyed him irritably and waited for him to answer my question.

"Forgive me, I know little of the current literature regarding myself," he said after a moment. "Are you aware that I never had a proper apprentice?"

Okay… "I wasn't," I admitted, "but there isn't much known about the later portion of your life."

He nodded as though he wasn't surprised. "Being a teacher, I trained many students in the arts of potions and dark arts and defense. I trained my children more extensively. I never had a proper apprentice though – someone to whom I could pass the greatest of my secrets and skills."

My heart did a strange fluttering thing as I finally caught up with what he seemed to be insinuating. I really should have caught on sooner, but it was something like four o'clock in the morning, and I hadn't been sleeping nearly enough recently, so I excused myself. "Wha… Are…" I snapped my mouth shut and silently cursed myself for sounding like a blithering idiot. "Are you suggesting that you're still looking for an apprentice?" I finally asked.

He smirked in reply. "Unless I am mistaken, you're desperately in need of a skilled magic tutor."

That part of me I liked to ignore was squealing unforgivably again while I stared blankly at the portrait and worked to force something resembling intelligent speech into my mouth.

~.~.{S.*.S}.~.~

"Severus! Severus, Severus, Severus! Wake up!"

I started awake as Hermione all but jumped on top of me. I blinked several times and forced my eyes to properly open. "Hermione? What's going on? Is everything okay?" I asked quickly, sitting up at her urging.

She took a deep breath and I realized she seemed to be almost vibrating with excitement. I hadn't ever seen her this excited, I realized. "I found something that's…" she seemed at a loss for words. "Oh Merlin, Severus, you have to see it!"

"What time is it?" I asked warily.

"Early," she said dismissively, tugging me out of bed. "Come on! Get dressed! Please!"

I blinked at her again, then scrounged my wand from under my pillow with a sigh and made my way into my bedroom to get dressed.

When I returned to Hermione's room, she was literally bouncing in place in the middle of the room. I opened my mouth to ask her what the bloody hell had gotten into her, but I didn't get the chance as she snatched up my hand and started towing me out of the room.

I managed to cast a Tempus on the way out of the common room, revealing that it was half four.

For a while, I just followed in silence as she tugged me down dark dungeon corridors. When I realized how far we'd gone, I started to get more curious. I knew that she'd woken up from a nightmare a few hours ago and insisted that I go back to sleep and that she was going to go for a short walk. What could she have found down here?

After a good ten minutes, I was sure that I was lost, which wasn't a particularly pleasant feeling, though Hermione seemed to know exactly where she was going. Finally, we entered a very long corridor that was actually more like a tunnel for the fact that there didn't seem to be any doors or connecting corridors. I tried once to ask her what was going on, but her brief reply was simply, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Finally, the tunnel ended abruptly, and she tugged me through a door to the left and into…

I'd barely had time to process the… unbelievable room we were in when Hermione's arm wound around me and gently turned me back toward the door. She pointed above it and I looked up at a beautiful portrait containing a handsome man with shrewd eyes that immediately made me wonder if he was a Prince.

Then Hermione spoke.

"Salazar, this is Severus Snape, my boyfriend, and one of the most brilliant wizards I've ever met. Severus, I'd like you to meet Salazar Slytherin."

I blinked, then looked at Hermione to find her grinning knowingly back at me. I returned my eyes to the portrait.

Salazar's eyes flickered between the two of us and his lips curled into a warm smile. "Welcome, Severus," he greeted quietly. He then focused on Hermione again. "Take him to my office."

She nodded and snatched up my hand again, leading me across the room.

I glanced back in time to see Salazar walk out of his portrait.

"When did you find this?" I asked as she cast a nonverbal alohamora at one of the bookshelves, causing it to swing open like a door.

"Like an hour ago," she answered with a smirk as she led me through a… library. Salazar Slytherin's library. I swallowed hard and resisted the urge to stop and pick up a book along the way. "You really think I could go longer than that without showing you this?" she chided.

I smiled, though she'd turned back to watch where we were going and didn't see. Merlin, I loved this woman.

Another quick spell took us through another bookcase and down a long flight of stairs. My jaw dropped as she led me into Salazar's office. Which looked like an exact replica of the headmaster's office, right down to the view out the obviously enchanted window. And there was Salazar again, seated in a portrait behind his desk. When I looked at him, he was looking at Hermione. He nodded toward the desk.

Hermione made a sound that was suspiciously like a giggle as she picked up a silver box and held it out for me.

I frowned at her curiously, though I had to admit that this whole thing was making me a bit giddy as well. Actually, I was wondering if I wasn't still sleeping and this was some kind of rarely enjoyable dream.

Then my eyes fell on the contents of the box and I did not squeak. The wand inside was, if possible, even more impressive than Hermione's.

"Salazar's wand," she whispered reverently.

My eyes jumped back up to hers. She looked rather like she might burst into hysterical giggles at any moment. Gods, I'd always known that she was beautiful, but I was just realizing that in all the time I'd known her, I'd never seen her actually looking… happy. Certainly not to this degree. It made her look… at the risk of sounding hopelessly smitten… an angel. I smiled at her and returned my attention to the wand.

"Pick it up."

I started slightly, having forgotten that Salazar was there. He nodded toward the box.

I looked at Hermione. She was frowning as she looked at the portrait.

Salazar just lifted his brow expectantly.

Hermione shrugged.

I took a deep breath and hesitantly picked up the wand.

A/N: Okay, excuses, for those of you feeling curious. Primarily, I blame my variable health. It's been on the down side of late, which impacts the rest of my life on a number of levels. I won't bother bringing up any of the other things that have interrupted me when I've attempted to get any writing done lately, but I will endeavor to give Phoenix more of my attention.

Thanks for reading! I love you all, though I do love those of you who review just a little bit more. ;-)