Disclaimer: not mine, JKR's
A/N: I'm so sorry for the delay but I was so busy this past month and I will be until May so please don't epect many chapters till then. Anyway, I thank you all for your lovely reviews. I hope you'll like this brand new chapter. And I made a little change in the title of this story, I hope it would not disturb you, lol.
A huge huge thanks to BornOfElvenBlood.
C'est parti!
Chapter XXI: Good Night, Good Morning.
He moved forward and kneeled in front of them.
"Come on," he said kindly. "Let's go to my lab."
Hermione wore an expression of extreme shock on her face.
For Cerys part, her face was bathed with tears.
Can you imagine what it had been like for a young abused, deaf girl?
It had been awful – no: it had been a nightmare.
Severus took the little girl in his arms and asked Hermione to follow him.
Quickly, careful to avoid notice, they reached Severus' laboratory.
He closed the door behind them and conjured a comfortable couch upon which he sat the crying little girl.
Then he went to his worktable to retrieve some phials as Hermione sat on the couch beside Cerys.
He came back to the couch and kneeled in front of Cerys.
She had calmed down somewhat but there were still some tears escaping her purplish, bloodshot eyes.
"Cerys, please drink these phials," he said kindly. "Do you trust me?"
The little girl nodded.
"All right, drink it then," he said with a smile, giving the little girl two phials he had in his pale hands.
She took the potions and drank them.
Soon, she drifted to sleep. Severus caught the phials before they could fall to the ground.
He laid the little girl comfortably on one end of the couch and conjured a blanket that he placed gently over the now-sleeping little blond girl.
All the while, Hermione had been watching.
She was still somewhat shocked by what had happened a few minutes earlier but could not help but notice Severus' gentleness.
She looked at him wondering why he had not been less harsh when she attended Hogwarts.
If he was capable of such behaviour, why then he had not been more agreeable at school?
He turned to face her, clothed head to toe in his Death-Eater attire.
And then she had her answer: Voldemort and the other Death-Eater.
Everything that went wrong in her world, Hermione noticed, was almost always related to that monster and his followers.
If she was brave and strong, she would try to kill him at once.
But she was not like that.
Thanks to her captivity, she had discovered that she was just a normal woman full of fears and not as strong as she had thought. All the rubbish about Gryffindor qualities was just that: rubbish!
On top of that, she was not a murderer.
Severus came to sit beside her.
"I gave her a Calming Draught and a Dreamless Sleep Potion," told her quietly.
She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder.
Severus didn't know quite why, but her movement made him put an arm around her shoulders.
Maybe it was because both girls, no, the girl and the woman, were showing him trust.
He was growing more and more comfortable with them both.
"Do you want a potion?"
Hermione shook her head no, as she was drifting to sleep as well.
"Severus," she said after a few minutes of silence.
"Yes," answered Severus, staring at the opposite wall, the worn out as the day's excitement began to catch up with him.
"When will all this end?" she asked as she lost what was left of her consciousness.
Before Severus could have said a word in reply, he heard a slight snort.
Hermione had fallen asleep.
He summoned his cloak from where it rested on a laboratory stool and draped it around the two of them. Then with a flick of his wand he lit a fire.
He was asking himself the same question.
And he would do anything to have the answer.
He was tired of all this.
He was tired of being used.
He was tired of watching those he cared about being abused or murdered.
He was tired of doing things he did not like.
He was even tired of being lonely.
And it was on all these thoughts that he fell asleep, his eyelids closing and dreaming about his mother, Lily, Albus, the Order, Hogwarts, Cerys and the young woman in his arms.
Tomorrow would certainly be as tiring as any other day and he wanted to make the most of this comfortable situation. So he fell asleep somewhat content to be with trusting people that he was growing to like.
***
A few hours later, he opened his eyes and glanced at the clock on the wall at his left.
It was already the morning.
At his left, Hermione was still sound asleep and putting all her weight against his thin body.
But at his right, Cerys had come during the night to curl up against him.
At some point during his contemplation, Cerys opened her eyes.
She opened her mouth to speak but he quickly brought his finger to his lips to hush her. He pointed to the woman at his left.
Cerys smiled and nodded.
"Sleep well?" he signed to Cerys so as not to wake up Hermione.
Cerys nodded.
"Are you hungry?" he signed.
Cerys nodded.
And he conjured a plate full of fruits that they ate in silence.
While waiting for Hermione to wake up, Cerys went to get a book.
Severus disentangled himself from the sleeping Hermione and went to sit beside Cerys at the other end of the couch.
Both of them quietly read the book, though Severus was not exactly reading. He was just enjoying his time with the little girl.
It might have seemed surprising that he was enjoying himself, but Cerys was not some dunderhead of Hogwarts.
He enjoyed her company.
It was this scene that met Hermione as she opened her eyes.
She smiled.
It was so touching to see them together.
After a few moments, Severus noticed that she was awake and turned his head to her.
He nodded to wish her a good morning and she smiled faintly.
She would like it if all her mornings were like this one.
A/N: So wha do you think? A review please!^^