A/N: Entry for the Bonus Round of the House Competition. Drabble Prompt 'The Black Lake'. Non-Canon Compliant
ooOoo
Severus was scouring the grounds, part of the many search parties out looking for wounded and the dead. The battle had spanned days and covered large areas of the grounds. There were many still unaccounted for, one that worried him the most was Hermione Granger. The last anyone could remember seeing of her she had taken off after Antonin Dolohov. While Potter and Weasley were still holding out hope that she was alive, Severus doubted it. His feet took him along the edge of the Black Lake, the water lapping gently at the shore. His steps picked up speed as he spotted something. There was a body in the water, not yet claimed by the Giant Squid. He made a quick motion and the body was dragged up onto the stones.
He was looking down at the lifeless form of Antonin Dolohov, a look of shock forever etched into his now bloated features. Severus let his eyes travel to an outcropping of rock, one he'd hidden in many times as a student. There tucked into a dark crevice, soaking wet and shaking with cold, was Hermione Granger. Severus approached slowly and crouched down offering her a hand. "Miss Granger." He said, and saw no recognition of his presence on her face. Her eyes were staring past him at the water. "Hermione." He said a bit softer.
"Professor?" She whispered, her eyes shifting to him.
"Take my hand, your friends are looking for you." He said.
"I can't…." She whispered.
"Yes, you can." He insisted, and when she tentatively slipped her hand into his he gave her freezing cold hand a squeeze and pulled her out. He cast a drying charm and then slipped off his outer robes and wrapped them around her. "You have to keep moving forward. He earned his death, a thousand times over."
"But I used…"
"A stunner. He fell into the lake and drowned. Do you understand?" He gripped her shoulder hard. "This is one secret you can never share." He knew now why she was in shock. Using the Killing Curse for the first time was a shock to the system, a first deep dive into the Dark Arts. "I can help you deal with the after effects, but for now you need to smile and celebrate with your friends like nothing happened."
Hermione nodded and took a deep breath, trying to pull her Gryffindor courage up around herself. "I can do that." She whispered as her Potions Master turned her away from the Black Lake and the body of Antonin Dolohov, leaving them behind as they turned back towards the Castle.
~Fin~