Severus and Hermione had had an enjoyable day together, brewing some new batches of medicinal potions for the upcoming flu season and inevitable Quidditch injuries. Hermione often despaired at the somewhat alarming attitudes displayed by the children under her care towards personal safety. Then again, she could hardly comment on such, as her own escapades as a student were hardly likely to have passed a health and safety risk assessment.
As the sun began to set however, Severus felt the burn of the Dark Mark and promptly Apparated away to some unknown location, leaving Hermione behind. She tidied up the lab, put the freshly created potions in their respective places and dutifully informed the headmaster of the situation. She then returned to her office and began the long wait.
It had been a dull evening in the Hospital Wing for Hermione; she had only two patients, who were soon off to sleep, leaving her plenty of time to worry about Severus. He still hadn't returned, and Hermione's imagination was doing a great job of conjuring up ever more horrifying reasons for the unusual delay.
When Severus finally appeared around two in the morning, Hermione observed with horror his dreadful state: clothing ripped, deep gashes marring his face, bite marks on his arms, a severe limp and blood dripping everywhere. He managed to make his way over to a spare bed, where he promptly collapsed in a graceful heap.
"Oh, Merlin! What happened to you?" Hermione asked, somewhat fearful of the answer she would receive. She knew the sort of sadistic tortures that Voldemort had inflicted on Severus in the past.
"It would appear the Dark Lord has a new—" Here Severus hesitated, not knowing how to describe the evening's events to the young woman before him without sending her into more of a panic. "—game."
"Game?" Hermione asked, wondering what sort of nefarious game Voldemort had come up with now. Obviously the wizard was mad enough to singlehandedly destroy his own army for his amusement. While they were talking, she set to work with her wand, attempting to stem the flow of blood and to knit the skin back together. She would need to find out what had caused the bite mark; she fervently hoped that Fenrir was not involved in the night's festivities. The femur in his right leg, which was the cause of the limp, would have to be reset.
"Animagus fighting, with betting on the winner," Severus calmly stated, whilst pulling out a fistful of galleons from the inside pocket of his voluminous, now bloodstained, robes and laying them on the sheets next to him.
"I take it you won then?" she asked, knowing the answer even before she had said the words. Although Severus' injuries appeared to be shocking, Hermione was sure that the man before her would have been in a much worse state if he had somehow managed to lose the fight.
Severus looked up at the young woman before him, and with a smirk, stated "naturally."