Unexpected
"Don't touch me. Don't you dare touch me."
A hand is withdrawn. She bites her lip, uncertain.
A tense moment.
A hand is extended. He nearly jumps. It was unexpected- but then, so was she.
Both remain quite still, neither willing to speak.
He wants her to go away. He should tell her so, in the intimidating tone he reserves for the most wayward pupils. But he does not. He cannot.
She is afraid. He will certainly react badly. He will snap at her. Become angry. He will do anything but accept her offered help.
Quite still. Quite, quite still.
Then he breathes and it is a ragged, harsh noise. He shudders at the pain in his chest.
Her fingers grip his shoulder, holding him steady as he coughs.
As he turns his head, Severus steels himself for the look of horror on Hermione's face.
She smiles at him.
Smiles. At him.
He almost betrays his disbelief with a look.
A few moments later, she is tending his wounds silently, a look of concentration on her face as she points her wand and utters the words that heal him.
Still neither speaks to the other.
She completes her last spell. She stares at the place where the curse had hit him for a moment before meeting his eyes with her own.
She is still smiling.
He cannot help himself. "What in Merlin's name has made you so bloody happy?"
His voice is not raised, but somehow seems to explode in the quiet room anyway.
Her answer lingers on her tongue for a moment before it comes, quietly, in that dignified way of hers. "You are alive."
………….
I was bored and wanted to write something. It took about twenty minutes and exactly one typed page. Reviews welcomed and craved.