Let Me Help You, Brick by Brick
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all its affiliates do not belong to me.
Author's Note: A what if situation where Hermione saves Snape from dying in the Shrieking Shack.
Characters Involved: Hermione and Snape.
God,I hope I'm not too late.
From the look on her former Professor's face she knew that she hadn't been expected. He had not imagined that someone such as herself would slowly make her way back into the Shrieking Shack, crawling through dust, debris, and gore, moving broken, splintered wood in her attempt to get back to him. He most definitely did not expect her to shield him as more of the ceiling fell on top of them. But what else could she have done while the man who had taken it upon himself to do everything in his power to protect them had resigned himself to die in a dirty old shack without the thanks or acknowledgement her deserved. Immediately, she pushed her chaotic curls behind her ears and searched through her pockets with one hand while applying pressure to his gaping neck wound with the other. The man's only response was a half-hearted glare and a gurgling noise.
She had seen too many die today, and she would do everything she could to make sure that this man lived. As if sensing her resolve the gurgling stopped and her former Potions Professor closed his eyes. Working quickly, Hermione cast a few healing spells to first disinfect the wound and mend a few of Severus' bones that had been broken or sprained by the fall. Next she forced two and a half bottles of Blood Replenishing potion down his throat, gently massaging the muscles so that he didn't choke from the effort of swallowing. Then she pulled out a small bottle that seemed to be made out of enchanted crystals and poured the little amount of liquid into Snape's mouth.
Please work.
Oh, God, please let this work.
The reaction was immediate and all she could do was hold him as he thrashed about harshly. Worrying that he would cause more harm to his throat Hermione uttered spell after spell in order to start the healing of the wound and then to sew it up with the help of magic. After close to a quarter of an hour his struggling stopped and he was able to breathe normally again, enough so that he was slowly able to yell at her again, at least he intended to but he didn't have enough voice to do so.
"Miss Granger, what in blazes did you think you were doing?" Although his voice was rougher than she was used to and a lot quieter, Hermione let out a breath in relief.
Thank Merlin, he's alright.
"Saving your life, Sir." Her response was borderline cheeky but she didn't care at the moment. She looked at him and Severus couldn't put a name to her expression. "I'm glad to have you back Professor Snape." She said as she helped him rest against one of the very badly scarred walls of the shack.
"I would never have expected someone to actually say such a thing, nor to act as you did." Severus' voice was rather far away in her opinion.
"I couldn't just leave you here, especially not with all that you've done." As if a thought just occurred to him he looked at her in the eyes.
"And pray tell Miss Granger, where did you find an antidote that would counter the effects of Nagini's poison." Truthfully, it was nothing like he had ever encountered. For a while it had burned through him but then he couldn't help but feel lighter somehow, as if a brightness had chased away the dark, the poison, and the pain. Reluctantly, Hermione told him of their exploits back down into the Chamber of Secrets to retrieve basilisk venom and how secretly for the past two years she had been concocting antidotes. Nagini's venom would be nothing compared to that of a basilisk so she had decided that they should be prepared for the worst. Unfortunately, she was only able to create one small bottle of antidote for all her efforts and due to its corrosive properties when in contact to anything that was animal she had spent quite a bit of her Galleons on the special crystal bottle it had been corked in. Luckily it seemed that human saliva allowed such a volatile solution to be ingested without it burning through any soft tissue. He didn't seem to notice all the half-truths within her story and for that Hermione was grateful. Snape had looked at her with an expression that she could not make out but surprised her with his next sentence.
"You, Miss Granger, are probably the most insufferable and probably the most intelligent student I have ever had the opportunity to meet, let alone teach." Hermione was speechless but managed a small smile at the praise. The idea of praise from Severus Snape had been inexistent for most of her life at Hogwarts.
"Thank you, Sir." Snape would have thought that she would have been more appreciative but said nothing, noting the tiredness in her eyes and the off color of her skin. Perhaps if she had not been thrust into the war prematurely things would have been different.
"Now, since you had the time to come back to save this body of mine, I assume we have won the war." Hermione nodded enthusiastically before helping him to stand.
"Everyone will be so happy to see you alive, Sir. Harry especially." The thought of Potter made a shadow cross across his face but he allowed Hermione to support him out towards what remained of the castle. His mind curled around the memories that he had left in Potter's care, the boy would probably want to ask him about his mother.