Thank you Antigone and 30 Seconds to Mars for inspiration, and darklyromantic for beta reading such a horrific story!
Twisting Virtue
Transition
She couldn't cry. Her life was different now; there was no more space for tears, even if it still hurt. She sat alone, legs curled up to her chest, and watched the rain fall outside, the way it had no inhibitions, free to drop from the sky without shame.
She didn't regret the decision, only the result. Her parents would be safer under the Memory Charm, but she would be nothing but a stranger to them, their memories of her wiped clean. It had been too late to change her mind, she knew, but at that moment she only felt strong enough to stare out the window, letting the rain do the crying.
Dumbledore had been kind enough to let her stay at Hogwarts as long as she needed. She looked around the room, at the ghostly shadows the candle made against the stone walls. It was eerie, but it was now home.
She hated not having anyone to talk to, for there were no other students and the only teachers around were hermits: Dumbledore was rarely seen outside his office and Professor Snape liked to hide out in the dungeons. She suspected, therefore, that the summer would be highly uneventful and hoped to find a collection of good books from the library to pass the time.
Looking back at the array of nail varnish on her bed, she picked out a subtle pink to use on her toes. It was a useless routine to paint her nails, for no one ever saw them with the school's shoe policy, but it made her feel like she was doing something to look presentable. She pressed the brush against the tube's opening, allowing the excess paint to drip back down into the pool of pink. She wondered what her parents were doing without her. The thought burned a hole in her side and she clinched it before returning her attention to her feet, resolved to keep such thoughts far from her mind.
The day had barely just begun, but she had risen nonetheless, unable to sleep further. She kept a candle lit though the sun had already mounted the sky, for the air of the castle had been dampened with darkness due to the storm.
She stretched out onto her back, letting the varnish dry. No doubt Dumbledore would be spending breakfast in his office again and Professor Snape would have his nose deep in some book, leaving her to have a one-way conversation with her porridge.
Unable to take the silence any longer, she put on her trainers and headed down to the dungeons. She searched the rooms until she found Snape, perhaps not fully awake, but already set to his work, just like she suspected. He had on his usual black garments, minus the billowing robe, but his sleeves were unbuttoned and pulled up, his back bent over a steaming cauldron. He didn't notice her slip into the room and take a seat, watching carefully as he stirred and smelled the concoction with a permanent grin across his face.
She sat with her back upright, reviewing the materials laid out beside him to see if she recognised the potion. Perhaps a little too enthusiastic, she leaned forward so much that her chair skimmed out from behind her and she hit the floor on all fours. Her eyes were wide in fright as she kept very still, the sound of her fall indisputably knocking Snape out of his realm. She could hear his breathing hasten.
"Get up," he said.
She stood, slowly, and looked up to find Snape inches from her, eyes wild with hate.
"What do you think you're doing here, Miss Granger?"
"I was just watching you brew your potion, sir, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disrupt you," she said. "Blood-Replenishing Potion?"
He startled, not expecting her diagnoses.
"I shouldn't expect anything less from a know-it-all."
She smiled sheepishly.
"Maybe I could help?" she asked, though futilely, knowing he would never concede.
"What do you feel about cleanup?" he asked as he observed the potion to see if it had been ruined by the sudden neglect. "I'm going to have to start over again, so you can cut up materials too."
"Yes, sir," she said anxiously. She was excited about finally having something to do with her time. She brushed her hair behind her ears and began the messy work of cleaning up the botched remains. Snape wasted no time in grabbing another cauldron and pulling the right amount of each supply out of their respective jars, laying them all out for her to chop.
They worked side by side in complete silence until a fresh batch of Blood-Replenishing Potion lay brewed and bottled before them. She smiled at Snape, who frowned back; both their brows damp with sweat.
"I expect you here tomorrow, Miss Granger, of course?" Snape said as he left the room with the bottles, not looking back for an answer. She felt a lump build in her throat. She had impressed him and he wanted her to help again; she knew he planned to spend the rest of summer brewing, and she was excited by the prospect of being his assistant.