Hermione watched Snape over the edge of the textbook she was reading. He was standing over his cauldron mindfully devoted to the liquid he had been churning for the past half an hour. A year ago, she would have said the man was crass and selfish. She couldn't understand how he could hermit himself away like he did, or even refuse to speak with anyone, let alone Harry. After the war, and after seeing that his persona was not just an act, she gave up any hope she had for him to become more involved in anyones life. The most she had seen of him had been in meetings at work, when the Minister of Magic would require his expertise for cases even she couldn't solve. During the quick moments, he wouldn't even give her a greeting, but would only blink those stony black eyes to her in recognition before going about his business. Now, however, there he was, and there he had been, standing feet away from her, brewing more Instant Skin to apply to her hand without needing to be asked. There he was, mending her, taking care of her, comforting her.
He looked older than he really was, but it fit him. She found the lines on his face to be handsome, refining the wizard and bringing to him a visual aid to the wisdom he held. Something she hadn't noticed before until that day, watching him as he chopped and crushed, squeezed and grated the potion ingrediens. She had watched him do it many times before, but only while he was keeping a careful eye on his students and never showed the kind of meditation he was showing at that very moment. Knowing he was giving this much attention to the potion, this much care for something meant for her, it touched her differently.
When he paused, feeling her lingering eyes, he connected with her for a brief moment, glaring - more likely a habit formed from years past that he could not break - then softened. Hermione continued watching as he returned his attention to his work, mixing away. In just the past week he had become more to her than just her ex-professor; he became a friend, and realizing that, she smiled. There was something catching about him at that moment, something peaceful that she had never expected to radiate from him. He was in the moment of doing something he loved and the more she watched him, the more she fell in love with the exact art of potion making as well.
Laying her book down, she went over to him and wrapped her arms around him. He had mixed the potion a few more times before he froze, then after a few seconds, glanced down at Hermione, an eyebrow raising so high it caused crinkles to form near his hairline.
"What are you doing?" He asked not out of cluelessness; he knew she was hugging him, but out of confusion that she was actually hugging him.
"Hugging." Hermione stated the obvious, her cheek pressed against his arm. She looked up at him through her lashes and smiled softly. "Thank you." She said after a while and Snape gave a small nod, relaxing his face, and continued to stir the pot. Hermione, feeling empty with his lack of reciprocation, gave a final squeeze and stepped back, sighing, though she left a hand to rest upon his back and she lifted onto her toes to look into the cauldron easier.
"Tell me-" Snape said, pulling the spoon from the liquid and gave it a knock against the cauldron to rid it of the sticky substance before placing it aside. "Have you ever squeezed Baneberries before?"
Hermione shook her head. Snape held out his hand, dropping a few blood red berries into her palm.
"Their juice will not harm you unless ingested, in which case, would kill you within minutes."
Hermione nodded feverishly.
"They're used to make poison, Baneberry Poison to be exact. Known to do damage to both beasts and humans." She finished, guessing his next words. He gave her a look that fell somewhere between annoyance and approval causing her to bite her lip. She didn't mean to ruin his lesson, but couldn't help sharing that she had known about the ingredient she had been given.
"Plain out squeezing the berry will cause the skin to rupture, the tannins to break and absorb within the juices. However, if you roll them in between your fingers..." He demonstrated by taking a berry and rolled it gently between his thumb and forefinger until a small and delicate drop was pushed from it, beading at the tips of his fingers, "...you'll eliminate the danger and expel the juice freely." He let the drop fall into a tiny glass dish before throwing the berry into a cast iron pot. "We need exactly eleven berries to be rolled just like this. Can I trust that your good hand can handle the chore?"
Hermione grinned, nodding quickly again, then placed a single berry between her thumb and forefinger, copying the motion Snape had made until she released the bead of juice and dropped it into the glass dish. Snape nodded his approval and after watching her repeat the process for a few berries, he grabbed a dragon liver and began cutting it.
"Though a poison, when added with Goosegrass and Moonstone, it takes on an opposite reaction and as such, can be used to deter the effects of what may have destroyed your hand." Snape scooped the liver he had chopped and let it fall into the cauldron. "Not usually added to Instant Skin, but seeing as we're dealing with quite a large area of damage, it may hasten results and in turn, give you the ability to use your hand faster than dealing with the original potion alone."
Hermione was listening intently. She had noted that his voice did not take on the dangerous purr she had gotten used to while under his instruction at Hogwarts, but had been lush and impassioned. She rolled her berries, daring not to speak as she wanted to concentrate on obtaining the perfect squeeze, and it wasn't until her last berry had been discarded did she dare to ask the question that had begun bothering her.
"Why aren't you married?" It came out a little fast and disrespectful to her ears and she winced, quickly thinking of a softer way to put it. "You can be so chivalrous and so devout. I'm surprised some witch hasn't noticed and taken advantage of it, I mean."
Snape thought for a moment, holding back a smirk that threatened to show and took on his usual expression of stinginess.
"I have no time for those games." He came off cold and Hermione cringed at his answer, wondering if she had just ruined the moment.
"It's only a game if you make it one." She whispered. "And any woman who would dismiss you as quickly as a pawn in some kind of real-life Wizards Chess would be downright stupid." She turned away from her berries, pushing the glass container aside. She saw his jaw was clenched tight, his eyes were purposefully trained on the potion now bubbling inside the cauldron, and she forced her way into his line of vision.
"You probably haven't heard it often, if even at all, but you have shown me nothing but compassion since I've been here. Seeing that side of you has me convinced you have the ability to love, and to care, and I am completely flabbergasted that you have kept it to yourself."
His fixed stare and turned completely on her and she forced herself to glower back at him as much as she wanted to shrink into herself just then. And before she could stop herself, she stood on tip-toe, raising her face to his, and pressed their lips together to prove her point. There was a moment of shock, then a moment of acceptance, feeling him give slightly underneath the kiss. She had placed a hand against his chest and could feel a sudden rush of a heartbeat. Snape took that hand with his and pushed her back. His expression had changed in that instant act of affection into confusion, leaving her anxious for his answer. The small space between them grew larger as he stepped back and he dropped her hand.
"The heart was made to be broken, Miss Granger." Snape had chosen his words carefully. "Though I can understand your current need to fix that part of you, finding it from me will not help you overcome the vulnerability you currently possess."
Hermione nodded blankly. She looked as if a train had just hit her and Snape felt a dropping sensation in his chest as she turned without speaking another word and left the room.
He concentrated on the potion, the feeling of her lips against his still fresh in his mind. Dumping in the berries she had squeezed mimicked the way his conscience felt just then and he suspired heavily, cursing himself in his mind. Sympathy was not one of his best features and the kiss had thrown him off guard; he was not expecting it and knew that even if he was, returning any kind of adoration toward her would have been difficult. The last time a female had touched his lips had been forced, under the watchful eye of the Dark Lord, and he could never think of a time when a woman had voluntarily advanced on him.
Stirring the potion a few more times, he had an internal war. Willing to just let it all go and forget it had happened seemed easy enough, yet he couldn't shake the feeling that she had meant what she said, that any woman who had brushed him off was stupid. Lily had fixed herself in his mind, the hurtful way she had looked at him at the exact moment he knew their friendship was no longer valid and the exact moment he knew his heart had been shattered. It was this thought that had him feeling the truth of Hermione's words. There was more that needed to be said on the subject as he firmly believed that Hermione was only searching for a way to cope with her pain and loss, and planned to let her know. He stirred his cauldron once more, set the spoon aside and left the room.
"Miss Granger? Miss Grang-" He said, following the hallway and guessing she had receded into the living room, he was not prepared for what he saw.
Ron had been standing in front of the fireplace, the scared expression of Hermione peeking out from over his hand that had been clamped across her mouth. His wand quickly moved from her throat to pointing directly at him, but Snape had his wand drawn quicker than he could say a spell, and pointed right back at him.
"I didn't want to believe it at first. Hearing Hermione had come here, I said to myself, I said 'There's no way Hermione would trust the slimy 'ol git enough,' but lookit here."
Hermione struggled against Ron's hand, but he only tightened his grip, pressing his mouth to her ear and made a hushing noise.
"Unless you enjoy pain, I suggest you let her go, Weasley." Snape hissed, his fingers tightening around his wand. Ron snickered.
"Think I'm scared of a spell, Snivelly? Go ahead then, give it your best go." Ron waved his wand, a burst of light headed straight toward Snape, but Snape deflected it.
"Let her go." Snape repeated. "Why put her at risk of being hurt when you and I can end this on our own?"
"Surely you're not worried about your aim." Ron gasped just then. "Or maybe destroying my brother's ear has made you double guess yourself?"
"Surely you're hiding your cowardice behind Hermione if you refuse to let her go."
Ron shot a curse. Snape was grazed by the flash of light, and though he could feel his arm was cut and bleeding, retaliated with a spell of his own, but shifted his wand at the last moment when Ron had pulled Hermione in front of him as a shield. He bared his teeth, flicking his wand three times as Ron let a mixture of spells fly one right after the other. The room grew quiet as neither of them moved, both wands still surely aimed at the other.
"I had only disliked you for being friends with Potter. Now I dislike you for what you've become." Snape said, daring Ron to take another shot at him. Ron's eyes flashed, narrowing.
"What I've become does not concern you. The only thing that matters is retrieving my wife and teaching her a lesson."
"The only lesson you'll be teaching her is to better judge her mates." Snape took a step forward, the tip of his wand sparkled as a spell flew. He had aimed deliberately for Hermione and watched as the spell hit her, causing her to grow flaccid. Ron had not expected it and could not hold the dead weight that suddenly challenged the hand that had been wrapped around her mouth without compromising his wand. He let her drop to the ground and sprang forward, a growl escaping him and Snape grabbed his shoulders, using all the strength he could muster to fling the man aside. Snape didn't take a second to watch where the red-head had landed before he lunged to Hermione, grabbed her with his free hand, and apparated both of them out of Spinners End.
Hermione had been placed on a couch when they arrived at the small cabin Snape had taken them to, and he sat beside her. His long fingers had gently smoothed Hermione's forehead and cheeks as he called her name, urging her to wake from the stun she had received. The spell was nothing more than a weakness charm, causing her to lose any rigidness in her limbs and basically forced her to become helpless in every aspect. It was the least harm he could cause without actually hurting her in one way or another, and didn't want to risk hitting Ron with a curse that could have hit her instead.
"Hermione." Snape's voice began to grow stronger the more he had to say her name. He had worried the spell had come out too strong given the rise in his emotions at seeing Ron, and the strength he had sent it was only justified the longer he had to wait for a sign of movement. Not usually lasting more than a couple of minutes, twenty had gone by without so much of an twitch from her.
He had made the spell during his school days, thinking it would come useful to defend himself against James and the rest of the Marauders when they would spend hours stalking him out just to torture, but he had never had to use it, therefore finding a counter curse was never a priority. Knowing the spell would wear off in due time had never been a concern for him to make a counter, and he had never thought he'd willingly hit someone he hadn't wanted to with it either.
"Hermione." He was nearly commanding her to open her eyes, though he kept his touch soft. Color was returning to her cheeks and Snape knew it was only a matter of seconds before the rest of her would follow along. When she opened her eyes finally, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. She recoiled at first, thinking she was still in danger until she noticed her surroundings had fully changed. When she recognized Snape, he found himself hugged again, only this time the meaning behind it was more than before; deeper, fear had taken the place of longing, and Snape returned it.
"He came out of nowhere." She said into his shoulder. "He was just there, just grabbed me out of nowhere."
"He's gone now." Snape soothed her as best as he could. Her fingers tightened around his robes and he couldn't help a smile that reached his face.
"I didn't know he was there, he just...he just was there and I...I..."
"He's probably still there, wondering where in the hell we've gone." Snape pressed a closed mouth to her head as she began to tremble. The cries that escaped the confines of his shoulder tearing him into two. "You're safe. Our location for the most part is untraceable. It would take an army to figure out where we are." Snape cooed into her hair. Hermione pulled back enough to look at him.
"Where are we?" She asked.
"Welcome to the long lost winter retreat of your favorite Headmaster." Snape smiled gently. Hermione's head darted around as she took in the cozy feeling around her. The place had been a guarded secret, but a loved one. Dumbledore much preferred this place to the confining walls of his Hogwarts office and living quarters when school was not in session. Snape didn't even know about it until after his death, in which the old Wizard had given him the location included in his last note to him. The note had been wisely worded and it wasn't until that moment did Snape fully understand what Dumbledore had meant by 'for assisting me in taking mine, may I assist you in saving one.'
A/N: dun dun dun...the plot thickens, ;) enjoy guys! Next few chapters have proven to be wordy!