A/N- I hope that you enjoy this chapter, and I apologize that it is not as long as my last one… Maybe next time…
Disclaimer- To be mine, or not to be mine, that is the question… Hmm… the answer seems to point to the second option…
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Chapter 10- The Third MistakeShe stared at the riddle; what could it possibly mean? She had been so entranced by the image that had appeared that she did not noticed when the door opened, nor did she notice when a tall, omnipotent looking figure silently creeped up from behind her.
He stood there a moment and watched her try to solve the riddle. He took note of her hand and swore inwardly to himself. Finally, after a long moment of trying to push back his annoyance, he leaned up behind her. "Miss Granger," he paused long enough for her to scream and turn towards him, "Why, in the bloody name of Merlin, are you standing before THAT frame, staring at it like a goldfish?"
Slowly she came to her senses, and shook her head to clear it. Where did he come from? "Well, you see, there is a riddle, and-"
"I know full well that there is a riddle in that frame, Miss Granger. What Ido wish to know on the other hand, is how it came to be there. Would you care to explain yourself?"
She felt her face start to grow hot. If she told him the truth, she would have to confess that she was planning on taking it apart. "I cut myself?" She took her chances on the half-truth.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "I see. Give me your hand." He held out his hand, raising a brow as if daring her to refuse.
So she complied, she wasn't really in the mood to deal with his temper at the moment anyway. Of coarse, she also wanted to keep her food supply as well. "It isn't that bad, Sir."
"In Potions, Miss Granger, a brewer's hands are the most important assets to their work." He looked down at her bloodied hand, and could see where the frame had cut almost all the way through to the bone. It was actually rather grotesque, seeing as the cuts were all over her hand, wrist, and part of her arm. It was a very serious wound, but at least it was not going to bleed out fast enough for her to die before she would arrive at the infirmary. What in the bloody hell had the girl been doing with that frame to mangle herself so badly? It only took a simple touch to give it enough blood to write with. He looked back up to her, forcing his gaze to be as molded as he could muster, but did not let go of her hand.
"Oh… Miss Granger…" He waited a moment for her eyes to flutter up to meet his, and squeezed her hand, yanking it up high so that she had to stand on her toes as not to dislocate her wrist. He ignored the fact that she had started to whimper, and proceeded to make his point. "At some point, did it ever cross that intelligent little brain of yours, that perhaps there was a reason that canvas was left blank?"
"Well, I thought-"
"Exactly, youthought.Oddly enoughthinking is both your best, and worst of qualities, and it is becoming to be a smidgen of a pain to me. One of these days, youwill learn that some things are not meant for you, and that you should leave themwell enough alone, Miss Granger."
"But the riddle-" She was confused, angry and in complete shock. What was wrong with him? It was only a stupid riddle…
Suddenly he tossed her away from him and she stumbled to the floor in a rather ungraceful manner. "Thatriddle is not one that is meant to ever be solved. Now that you have once again decided to pry into business that is not your own, you are dismissed for the day. I suggest going to Poppy and getting your hand fixed, immediately. I wish for you to start brewing tomorrow, so I expect you to be fully ready this time." When he noticed that she had not left right then, he narrowed his eyes at her. "I said you aredismissed."
The girl's eyes went wide, and she bolted for the door; as if he would change his mind if she didn't take the opportunity. As soon as the girl was gone, he ran a hand through his hair, swearing under his breath as he did so. SHIT. It had been a good thing that he had charmed the water to have a few extra nutrients in it. Or rather, it was a good thing thatAlbushad talked him into putting a charm on it, considering there were times that he had become so wrapped up in his work that he had forgotten to eat for several days himself.
The girl was thinner now than she had been two weeks ago, he had noticed when he had held her up to reprimand her. Actually, he could care less about the painting; he had actually been slightly worried for the girl, considering there was blood running down her damnable arm.
No matter how he had tried, he couldn't help but worry for his students. He didn't worry about what they thought of him, whether they were having a 'perfect life' or day or whatever the hell it was those bloody nitwits cared about at the moment of their personal crises'; but he did care whether or not they actually lived.
He walked over to the nearest chair and gracefully fell into it. He had known from the beginning he wouldn't actually kill the girl. Maybe make her life a living hell, perhaps even maybe lose his own life at the end, but he definitely wouldn't have killed her.
Damn it, he wasn't used to feeling this… Thisguilt. He hated it, that odd pain that felt so similar to humiliation. Damn her, and double damn her bloody intelligence. He looked up at the frame and sneered at it. "Well, you crazy old goat, it looks like you might find your freedom after all."
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She half ran up the steps towards Poppy's, trying her best to follow her Master's orders. She had noticed strangely enough, that Snape seemed to have not only scanned her wrist with scrutiny, but instead, all of her. Was he actuallyconcerned with what he had done? The more she though on it,the more she was convinced thatthere was something odd that had transpired. By all reasons she shouldn't have been in as good of shape as she was right then, considering how long she had been without food. Maybe he had done something to help her? Maybe… Just maybe she had actually seen what looked like worry in his eyes for a brief moment before he had lifted her up, painfully, to interrogate her about what had happened.
At the memory, she suddenly noticed the pain in her arm, and moved to hold it. Her eyes went wide, beginning to panic at what she felt; liquid- warm, sticky liquid that seemed to be covering her entire arm. She started to move faster, fear seeping into every nerve of her body. Unfortunately as the fear took over, she hadn't noticed something important; the trail of shining deep red crimson that seemed to be following behind her.
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As Snape sat, cussing himself out for being a dunderhead, he suddenly felt uneasy. Something wasn't right. Something was definitely not right at all. Suddenly his stomach began to wretch, what was wrong? He dug his nails into the arm of the chair as his heart began to beat faster, a cold sweat forming on his brow.
He then felt the sudden need to go to Poppy, though he couldn't explain why. Without questioning his instincts, he rushed out of the room, as if all the deatheaters had somehow been resurrected from the dead and were after him for revenge. To say the least, he felt confused. Confused on why he was suddenly panicking, confused on why he felt so sick, and confused why his guilt was still plaguing him.
And then he tripped over the reason behind his sudden panic attack- just when he had reached the last flight of stairs towards the infirmary. It was Hermione Granger. Bloody hell. He suddenly felt an uncharacteristic mass forming within his throat at what he saw. The cut hadn't seemed so bad that she wouldn't have made it all the way to the infirmary when he had looked at the atrocious wound, unless…
STUPID, STUPID girl! What in the bloody hell was she thinking? Had she not realized that she seemed to have received a deep gash within the area most people sliced to take their own lives? In the library, the bleeding was still under control, but judging from the small pool of blood underneath where her hand lie, her heart had accelerated since she had left.
Damn it all Severus, what in the bloody blazes are you doing simply standing there; watching as your apprentice bleeds to death in front of you? Have you not seen enough death in your life, that you would actually watch this girl die for your own failings?
He swiftly bent down, wrapped a cloth tightly around her arm to hold off the bleeding, and then picked her up. He whispered in her ear, "If you even try and die on me now, only a couple of weeks into our… relationship, I swear that I will follow you to your grave and torment you for eternity, so don't even try to think that I will let you get out of it so easily, Miss Granger."
He bolted up the steps, using his practiced agility to do his best at not jarring the girl too much. Soon he was in the infirmary. "POPPY!" Nothing. Damn it. "Blast it Poppy, get your ass out here, we have an emergency. NOW!"
There was finally a stirring from the back, and it was soon followed by the school's mediwitch. Her eyes went wide as she seen Hermione, and she rushed forward. "Put her on the bed, Severus, what has happened?"
"She cut herself, and I suppose she thought it wise torun here."
Poppy pointed to the nearest bed. "Put her there, Severus."
He glared at her a moment, not wanting to give up the girl in his arms. Poppy crossed her arms, and nodded her head in the direction of where she had pointed. He gave in; there was no use in arguing with the woman. He set her down carefully, doing his best not to harm the girl any further. He was positive that had Minerva been watching, she would have either been shocked, gleeful, or both. More than likely, it would have been the later.
Poppy quickly pushed him aside, and began to attend to the girl. After a period that was too short for his liking, she turned to him, looking very pale.
He pursed his brows together. "What is it?"
"Severus… I… I cannot find her pulse… I am afraid she is dead."
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A/N- I know, I know, evil cliffy, but it simply BEGGED me to stop it there… As always, please review, I much appreciate them.
Also, if anyone could tell me where I could get a good beta reader, I would be extremely grateful. :)