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Hermione's Late Night Recovery- Chapter Two

Professor Snape looked over Hermione carefully. She was twitchy and sweating. All common signs of stimulant usage. I should have watched her more carefully. But he didn't address the concerns that he had.

"Miss Granger. Your last homework assignment was disgraceful. It was shorter than required and you didn't have enough sources of arguments." He raised an eyebrow at her. I'm sorry to have to do this. But I don't see another alternative.

Hermione paled. Under the red, sweatiness of her face it looked quite strange. I didn't have time! "I'm sorry Sir. I'll try harder." She mumbled.

"Redo this. And detention tonight. Be here at six." He glared. I wonder how long you can make it without the potion. This must be a withdrawal stage soon.

"Yes Sir. Thank you Sir." Hermione turned to leave. But the Professor called her back.

"It is lunch now. You will rewrite the essay before your afternoon classes." Snape took a seat behind his desk. "What are you waiting for? Get to work!" He pulled over some of his third year tests and tried to concentrate on marking them.

Hermione sat down with shaking hands. She was having trouble standing up straight. I need the potion! She took out her potions books and looked over the essay. I wrote this? It's terrible! She tried to start working on it again. But her body didn't want to stop shaking and moving.

Professor Snape's voice startled her out of the third paragraph. "Lunch." He handed her a plate of food. "Eat all of it. I'm sure you don't want Madame Pomfrey angry because you haven't been eating." He smirked. I know she hasn't eaten in ages. The stimulant makes you thirsty, not hungry.

Hermione accepted the plate. I'm not hungry. And I can't use a vanishing charm because he's watching! She tried a bite of the sandwich. Gross, tastes like sawdust. But she forced herself to finish the sandwich. She ignored the rest of the food and after draining the goblet she got back to work on her essay.

I knew it. Snape watched as his student chocked down part of her meal. It's the stimulant potion. And she'll probably pass out before lunch is over. He sat and wait. It won't be long now. And then we can actually try to help her.

After draining the goblet Hermione felt slightly better. But she still shook and twitched. By the time she was down a third of the first page she knocked her ink bottle onto the floor. "Sorry Sir." She stood up. But she didn't get the ink bottle off the floor. "Damn it!" Hermione felt the room spin around her and she collapsed to the stone floor in a heap.

"No!" Snape lunged forward and caught her head before it hit the ground. He conjured a stretcher with his free hand and slid his arms around the girl. She was lighter than ever. How long has it been since she stopped eating? He wondered. She'll waste away if this continues.

With Hermione on the stretcher Snape levitated it out of the classroom, locked the door behind him and took her up to the hospital wing.

The Ravenclaw Quidditch team were still shivering in beds in the Hospital wing. Snape ignored them. After setting Hermione onto a bed he banished the stretcher and strode into Poppy's office.

The office was empty. Poppy was at lunch. Severus rang the bell on her desk and walked back out to wait for her arrival.

Pomfrey heard the chiming of the bell in her head. Someone needs me. She whiped her hands off and pushed her plate away. "Tonight Minerva?"

"I'm winning." McGonagall mimed shuffling the cards. Tonight was the monthly staff poker game and Pomfrey had won the last three months.

Pomfrey hurried through the halls. Who would come at this time? Everyone should be at lunch. But she remembered. Severus wasn't at lunch. I'll have to talk to him about that. But, come to think of it Miss Granger wasn't at lunch either. And she looks tired when she takes the calming draft. I wonder. . .

"Poppy." Snape waved her over to Hermione. "I'm almost certain that she's been taking a stimulant draft."

Whipping out her wand, Pomfrey cast a series of diagnostic spells on the girl. '"How long?"

"At least a week." Snape told her. "The first time I wasn't sure. But she was going through withdrawal in potions. And I don't think she's been eating or sleeping."

"She hasn't." Pomfrey rounded on the Potions Master angrily. "You suspected this and you didn't tell me?" Her voice rose. "Idiot." She hissed.

Snape held in a sigh. "I hoped I was wrong. Those potions are addictive."

"I need several of the addiction potions. And send Minerva in here. Miss Granger is her student." Pomfrey recast her diagnostic spells and summoned a few potions to her from her office.

"Very well." Severus swept out of the Hospital wing to complete the tasks.

Hermione didn't wake. Not even when the potions were spelled into her stomach or the mediwitch exchanged her clothes for pyjamas. She drew curtains around Hermione's bed and checked on the Quidditch players while waiting for Minerva to arrive.

McGonagall burst into the infirmary. "What wrong?" She demanded once she'd spotted her friend. "Severus said that you needed me."

"Come." Poppy brought her friend into her office. She took a seat behind her desk and motioned Minerva to a chair.

"Is it Harry?"

"No. Miss Granger is having problems again." Poppy told her. "Our previous plan hasn't worked. We'll have to turn to the next step."

"Which is?" Minerva was worried. She wasn't a medic and she had no medical training but when her lions were in danger it worried her.

"She'll need near constant supervision." Severus said. He walked in through the open door of the office. "Here." He handed Poppy three vials. "You'll have to contact St. Mungo's for the rest of the addiction potion."

"Addiction?" Minerva asked. She looked at her two friends who were exchanging dark looks.

"Miss Granger has been taking a stimulant potion. It is highly addictive." Poppy explained. "But we should be able to help her through it with potions." To Severus she said, "thank you. I'll contact St. Mungo's."

"And has Minerva agreed to take the girl?" He asked, motioning in her direction.

"Ah, no. I was opening that you'd take her." Poppy said.

"Me? You can't be serious!" Severus exclaimed. "She's a Gryffindor! Let Minerva have her."

"What do you mean?" McGonagall asked. "Miss Granger needs to live with someone?"

Poppy nodded. "That way she'll get enough sleep, have her homework done, eat properly. And when she stays with Severus she can keep an eye on him as well."

"No!" Severus protested again. "I don't want to be responsible for the Gryffindor know-it-all." And I don't want to give someone an excuse to make sure I'm doing whatever Poppy tells me. That would be nightmarish.

Minerva smiled. "It sounds like a good arrangement. And once Miss Granger sees her library I'm sure she won't argue."

"Good then. We all agree." Poppy rubbed her hands together. "Severus, I'm sure you can explain everything to Miss Granger once she wakes up."

Severus hung his head. Why do they always win? "Fine. I've got classes to teach." He walked out of the Hospital wing, his robes billowing behind him.

"Thank you Poppy." Minerva squeezed her best friend's hand. "I know you'll take care good care of her."

But Poppy was frowning. "Minerva, have you noticed how Miss Granger is getting along with her house mates? She doesn't talk about them."

"I don't know. I know that she doesn't seem to have many friends. Patil and Brown and Harry and the younger Weasley seemed to have formed pairs. She's the odd one out." Minerva said after pondering the question. "She talks to the oldest Weasley sometimes. Percy."

Poppy nodded. "Does that remind you of someone? Extraordinarily intelligent, no friends. Talks to the older students."

McGonagall drew in a breath sharply. "Surely not, Severus?"

Pomfrey smiled sadly. "Yes. At least this time the Marauders aren't bothering her. And we'll be able to help her before someone else gets a hold of her."

"I don't think you're right." McGonagall told her friend. "Harry and Ronald Weasley seem to tease her. At least Ronald does, Harry joins in sometimes. I think he does."

"This can't continue." Poppy told her friend. "She needs to find people to talk to. People her age who know what it's like to be brilliant and left out."

"And you know of someone who fits that description?" McGonagall asked. "It's a lot to ask from one person."

"I can't think of anyone off the top of my head. But then, I don't have anyone for classes. Ask Severus and the other teachers. They might have some ideas." Pomfrey stood up. "Now I've got work to do."

"Classes to teach." Minerva stood up.

"Tonight?"

"Tonight." They hugged briefly before hurrying off to their separate tasks and jobs.

Hermione slept through the entire afternoon. After missing almost a week of sleep she need all that she could get. Her mind wandered in and out of dreams. Luckily none of them were nightmares. But she relaxed and her magical core began to repair itself.

It was night when she awoke. Madame Pomfrey was feeding the Quidditch players before letting them go. The game would be soon and they were anxious to get back to their practising. But this time they promised to use charms to keep from getting hypothermia again.

"Madame Pomfrey?" Hermione pushed herself up when the mediwitch moved the curtains aside and stepped up next to her patient's bed.

"Good evening Miss Granger. How are you feeling?" She asked, smiling kindly.

"Tired." Hermione yawned. "And hungry." She admitted after her stomach growled.

"Have some dinner." The mediwitch summoned a plate of food that she'd had the house elves make and keep warm.

"Thank you." Hermione fell onto the food like a starving animal. It took all her self-control to not simply stuff food into her mouth.

Pomfrey nodded and headed into her office to floo call Severus.

By the time Hermione had cleaned her plate Snape was waiting outside the curtains. Poppy had told him to not bother the girl until she'd finished eating. And she hadn't told him about the ways that she and Minerva though were some much like a younger Severus and Miss Granger.

Once he heard the clunk of the plate being set aside Severus swept through the curtains and looked at his student. She looked much healthier than earlier. There was colour in her face and the majority of the twitching had stopped.

"Miss Granger."

"Professor!" Hermione jumped. She hadn't noticed him enter. "What is it?" She asked.

"Do you remember what we discussed the first time you ended up in the Hospital wing?" He asked her.

Hermione's face fell. Surely he doesn't mean. . . "Professor! No, please."

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I apologize for the time that it has taken me to update this story. I finally decided to write another chapter, and hopefully the next few will write more easily. Thanks for reading!