Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter.


Chapter 3

Hermione was not sure how long she sat with Severus sleeping in her lap but soon her attention was drawn to noises outside of the cell door.

The man that had left them in their predicament was true to his promise and eventually Hermione heard the aurors arrive. They were calling out for her and Snape but she was afraid to wake him up. But that was soon solved when an auror she didn't recognize opened the door.

She quickly held up her finger to her lips as her hand hovered protectively over Snape. The auror looked around the cell suspiciously as he approached Hermione with his wand out. He kneeled next to her.

"Miss Granger are you under any spells that you know of?" he asked rotely but thankfully quietly.

"No, but Professor Snape was given an illegal potion. I need you to cast a sleeping spell on him."

The auror hesitated

"Please." She whispered.

"Insomnia." He incanted. "Do you know how to remove the chains?"

"I think all you need is your wand."

It took two tries but soon the manacles fell off and she sighed in relief, rubbing her wrists. The auror levitated Snape off of her and helped her up with his non-wand hand. He glanced down at her clothes and followed his eyes to where her pants were wide open. She hurried to close them and almost frantically tried to smooth over her blouse and hair.

"Miss Granger would you like me get a female auror to be here with you?" he asked as she re-buttoned her robes.

"What? No, no that is okay. I'm okay." The auror hesitated again. "Really." She insisted. The auror nodded and took a mirror out of his pocket and spoke to it.

"I found them. Please come to my location."

Almost immediately she heard feet pounding down the hallway outside the cell and she smiled as Harry and Ron came bursting through the door in their own auror robes. They rushed towards her and crushed her in a very awkward, slightly painful three-way hug.

"I'm okay. I'm okay." She managed through all the cloth and limbs. They stepped back and Ron held he by her shoulders at arms length.

"'Mione I could kiss you right now." He said.

"Uh, can we not?" she said mimicking what he said years ago after she asked him if they could talk about their relationship. Thus effectively letting both of them know that they best end things and remain friends. The golden trio laughed together and Ron dropped his hands.

"But are you really okay, Hermione?" asked Harry after they had stopped laughing. He and Ron glanced at the auror still standing quietly off to the side and he must have given them some sort of sign because they suddenly grew serious.

"We can talk about it later, why don't we get you to St. Mungo's first." Said Harry in his, 'I'm trying to be nonchalant' voice.

"Actually can you just take us back to Hogwarts?" she asked glancing nervously at Snape, asleep and floating the air. "Sev- Professor Snape needs medical attention and, and I really don't think St. Mungo's would be the best place." She twisted her fingers together and looked and them beseechingly.

"What's wrong with Snape?" asked Harry looking back and forth between the potion's master and his friend. Harry never really decided how he felt about the man after he went back to the shrieking shack for a dead hero's body and instead found a live man clutching honey badger anti-venom and gasping for breath in a drying pool of blood.

"Please, guys!" she said feeling herself grow a bit hysterical. "I need to get out of here and I need to get Snape some help and I will explain everything if you just get me to Hogwarts!" she ended up nearly yelling and on the verge of tears. Covering her face with her hands she took deep breaths to get a grip on her emotions.

"Madam Pomfrey is certified to give medical reports to the ministry." She heard Ron tell Harry. Harry must have agreed because next he was asking auror Cray to head back to the office while they took Snape and Hermione to Hogwarts.

"Harry can I have my wand." She asked in a quiet voice as she lowered her hands. Ron tried to subtly cast a detection spell to check her for dark influences and she figured that with more training he just might achieve it someday. She must have come up clean because reached into his pocket and brought out a vinewood and black, ebony like wands out of his robes and she grabbed both before he could stop her.

Soon they were walking into the medi-ward at Hogwarts.

"Poppy!" Hermione called out picking up her speed and walking before Ron and Harry who levitated Snape I front of him. The medi-witch came out of her office.

"Hermione dear! Thanks goodness you are safe. Here, sit on the bed and let me look at you."

"Not yet Poppy, I need you to help Severus first. Can we put him in a private room?"

Poppy kept her questions until the unconscious man was laying on a bed in a room off to the side of the medical ward and spelled into some pajamas.

"Now tell me what is wrong with Severus, dear."

All three of them stared at her and she swallowed uncomfortably.

"You have to promise to keep this to yourselves." She said. The men looked at each other uncertainly and Poppy's face grew tight.

"I know that you have all taken oaths not to hide things that are illegal and could hurt someone, but it is not for me. Its for Severus and his privacy. Please, he did nothing wrong but if it got out he would be miserable."

"If what got out Hermione." She looked at the sleeping man and bit her lip.

"He was given the laetitia cordis potion laced with a lust potion."

The silence grew heavy in the small room and she knew from their expressions that she did not need to explain to the law enforcement and medical professionals what it was and meant.

"He didn't do anything wrong!" she said looking at them and resisting the urge to cry again. She was too damn weepy all day and she was getting sick of it.

"'Mione, what did he do?" asked Ron quietly.

"None of your business Ron! All you need to know is that he is an honorable man."

The red head shifted his feet uncomfortably.

"Actually, we do need to know, Hermione. It's the law and all." He scratched the back of his neck and looked at Harry for help.

"Why don't we go somewhere and talk about it." The boy who lived suggested.

"No. I want to stay with Severus." She said taking a step towards the bed. Poppy was already moving her wand over him.

"He is under a sleeping spell?" She asked not looking up.

"Yes, I wasn't sure how he would react to other people so I convinced him to take a nap and auror Cray cast the spell at my request."

"You interacted with him that much?" she asked, her head snapping up. "How much were you part of the fantasy?"

Hermione swallowed again.

Harry came over and took her by the elbow.

"Why don't we sit down and talk about it?"

They summoned chairs and sat next to his bed. Poppy came and sat right next to her and took her by the hand.

"Just start at the beginning dear."

She told them everything she could remember about the kidnapping and the wannabe Death Eater, eventually getting to the part when he forced the potion down Severus' throat and left.

"I think he was expecting Severus to behave differently than he did. He said that leopards don't change their spots and I think he was expecting him to act like a Death Eater."

She paused and looked at her hands while her friends waited for her to continue.

"He kissed me. Gently. And he told me that he loved me and th-thanked me for marrying him." She cleared her throat and sniffed. She would not cry anymore today. "I was able to shift his focus though and convince him that we weren't married yet and that I wanted to wait. And then we just talked. We sat together and just talked about things until I suggested he take a nap…I wasn't sure when the potion would wear off and I was afraid that…"

Poppy squeezed her hand and smile reassuringly.

"You did the right thing, dear."

Hermione wanted to smile back but couldn't.

"Is he going to be alright?" she asked. Poppy sat up straighter and sighed.

"That will be mostly up to him. We will keep him here and watch him closely, cheering charms and anti-depressant potions have proven to be no help in these situations."

"Would it help if I stay or go?" she asked wishing she could fix everything and terrified that she would cause more problems. Poppy frowned as she thought about it.

"That depends on a case to case basis. But the potion hasn't run its course yet and it would be better for him to be awake when it does. Since you were the focus you should stay until it does. Then it will be up to Severus."

Hermione nodded and got lost in thought. She hardly noticed it when Harry and Ron left, promising to come back when they had a chance or more information.

"Hermione."

She looked up at Madam Pomfry's sad smile and listened as the older woman told her what to do.

She nodded at each point and soon Poppy was canceling the sleeping spell. Snape jerked wake and sat up quickly. He looked around the room in confusion.

"Did something happen?" he asked looking at Hermione. Poppy answered instead.

"You accidentally ingested a potion and are suffer from its effects."

He looked at her with slight derision.

"Madam I hardly think that I would drink a potion without knowing it." The derision was shifting to suspicion. The medi-witch opened her mouth to retort but Hermione cut her off.

"Just because you knew what was in your mouth right away doesn't mean you weren't affected by it." She said dryly. "Stop hassling the woman Severus."

He looked at her again and she saw the corners of his eyes crinkle in a smile that seemed just for her.

"And just how did this potion get in my…mouth?" he asked smirking suggestfully. She almost smirked back, Slytherin bastard was still digging for information and hide it with teasing. She leaned forward and glanced at, madam Pomfrey as if she wasn't sure she should be saying. The nurse had the good sense to pretend she had something to do and leave.

"It was in the wine." She said quietly. He frowned.

"The wine at the picnic. You took the first sip then stopped me from drinking it."

"Someone tried to poison you?!" he said suddenly putting his hand on top of hers.

"Uh… well maybe. You were probably the target. I think I was just collateral damage." That was true enough and he looked like he believed her.

"I don't remember anything about wine. Last thing I knew I was taking a nap."

"You can't remember what happened because of the potion." Another true statement. She really hated the idea of lying to him anymore than necessary. His eyes narrowed.

"Why aren't you telling me which potion it was?" He demanded.

"Well," she huffed, "if only we had a potions master to help us identify it."

"You do have a potions master."

"If only we had potions master that wasn't dumb enough to think he could properly examine a potion while under its effects."

He laughed and pulled her onto the bed with him. Hermione allowed herself to be and willingly cuddled beside him.

"Very well. You win Hermione. How much longer are the effects supposed to last?"

"Not much longer." She said laying her head on his shoulder. "But you are supposed to eat before they do because you might not want to afterwards."

Also true. Poppy had explained that it was hard to get someone to eat when they didn't want to live. He smirked again.

"Will you feed me on my sickbed soon-to-be wife?"

She smacked his chest and he winced a little but still was grinning. He grabbed her wrist and held it to his chest.

"I'm glad you finally got those bracelets off."

Hermione could feel his heart beating steadily under her palm and for a second wished that the potion wouldn't wear off. That she could keep him like he was; happy. But completely drunk off their arses people were happy too. Didn't mean it was good to keep them that way or appropriate to have relationships with them.

"Let's get some food in you." She said sliding out of the bed and moving away from him.

Soon they both had trays of food in front of them but before they could really begin Minerva came in, looking like she had just hopped out of bed. Hermione suddenly realized that it was actually the middle of the night.

"Oh thank goodness you are both alright." She said, hand pressing against her chest. Hermione set her tray down quickly and stood up.

"Has Poppy filled you in?" she asked before the Headmistress could say anything further.

"Hm? Oh yes. Severus are you feeling quite well?" she asked, feigning nonchalance.

"I really am Minerva. I don't see what fuss is. But have you seen Albus? There was something I wanted to tell him."

Both women froze and stared at each other. After a couple of seconds Minerva's face looked like it was about to crumple in but she straightened her face out with pure tartan clad force of will. Hermione did not think that she was doing as well.

"Shall I just go find him?" the older woman asked and hurried out of the room. Hermione did not blame her for fleeing, she might have too but she knew staying was better. Plus, she was not going to cry.

Not anymore. Not because of this. She, like the Gryffindor she was, instead was getting angry. She had to willfully stop her hands from clenching as she thought about the man who had done such a cruel thing to her potions master.

Her's? Funny, she never really thought of Severus that way before.

"Hermione come back to me."

She jumped as she felt his hand touch her cheek and realized that she had sat next to his bed and was staring into space. She smiled at him.

"You should eat." She convinced him to eat his food but that she was full and really didn't need more. But it was actually because she felt like throwing up. The potion was going to where off soon and the anticipation made her stomach clench.

Snape was halfway through his meal when he paused with his fork in the air. Then it fell out of his hand and clattered to the plate and she knew that he was coming back to reality.

The look of horror that enveloped his face made Hermione sit up straighter and her heart beat faster.

"Leave, Miss Granger. Now." He rasped without looking at her. She almost obeyed.

"Severus…" she reached out to touch his hand and he flinched violently, knocking his tray of food and spilling it. Hermione quickly took out her wand and cleaned the mess. Sending the dishes back to the kitchen.

"Give me my wand." He demanded through clenched teeth, still not looking at her.

"I can't yet. And I can't leave you alone. Severus, please. If we could talk-"

"GET OUT! GET THE FUCK OUT! YOU STUPID LITTLE GIRL! GET OUT!"


A/N: You know some people offer hugs, kisses, cookies... for reviews. That is not my style though. How about this: I will be the Generic Bad Guy that has captured Damsel/chapter #4 and has dangled her over an active volcano. You get to be the brave Hero/reader that comes to her rescue wielding your mighty sword/reviews! You swipe at me and I fall back into the volcano with a Wilhelm scream and you ride off into the sunset with #4 at your side. Content until #5 goes and gets herself captured. Deal?