Hermione looked up from the rich green duvet on which she sat. The Potions Master had told her that after a quick rest and some food she would feel fine. She had slept nearly five hours on the divan within the parlor of his chambers only to wake up still feeling rather dizzy and groggy. She had thought to report this to Snape and sat up only for her head to start to spin and collapse again with a groan. She briefly wondered where Snape had gotten to before the oddness of the situation set in.

I am sleeping in Professor Snape's chambers. She thought as she felt an itch on her stomach and lazily reached down to scratch it. As she pulled up the large white shirt she was wearing in order to better get at the bothersome itch she realized that she did not recognize the shirt.

And wearing his clothes! Her mind screamed as she fought to remember why. She then looked to the backs of her hands. Where there used to be swollen enflamed wounds there were neatly wrapped bandages.

Because mine were stained with blood…

Her mind quieted with that fact. She then played the previous hours in her head; after leaving Harry in the infirmary Snape had more or less carried her to his chambers where he had deposited her on the parlor couch. There she assumed she had fallen unconscious as her memory faded. She had awakened the first time to find her wounds bandaged and Snape sitting in a chair nearby looking rather worried and holding a book he had been pretending to read upside down. A small pile of clothes and a tray of food floated beside him.

"You're awake." He said stiffly but his eyes smiled.

"Yes." She replied quietly as she attempted to sit up, this time more slowly and still could not muster the strength. Suddenly she felt lithe fingers and strong arms guiding her up.

"Too dizzy." She murmured and Snape allowed her to lay back down.

"It is as I feared." He said breathily after a few minutes. Hermione's head spun as she looked up, imploring him to explain with her eyes as she feared she would vomit if she opened her mouth. Her entire body felt as if it were on fire. "You have lost a lot of blood which made you weak. This in turn made you especially susceptible to the dark magic which gave Umbridge's quill its…more intriguing uses."

How does he know about that? Hermione thought and was shocked when Snape answered.

"I have seen such things before and you forget that I have the skill to penetrate the mind."

Oh. So, that is why I feel so horrible.

"What ails you?" He asked evenly as if out of habit but his dark eyes betrayed his worry.

I am weak and I feel as though I have been beaten and that should I open my mouth to speak everything I have eaten since I was three will come pouring out. Other than that I do not think I have ever been better.

"Sarcasm has no place in such circumstances. Hermione…" He trailed off suddenly looking incredibly somber. Hermione gasped.

No! I cannot be dying. The quill was of a lesser darkness and could not have possessed such-

"You had gone a matter of months with little sleep, little food, and little desire to continue living. You did not care for the wounds the quill gave you and so they became infected. Your strength was low and you had no way to heal the wounds let alone fight the either the magical or mundane infection. Even after that you had continued exposure to it for days."

Then why am I not in the hospital wing!?

At this Snape seemed to shrink into himself. "Because, it would seem, there is no legal way to save you."

And you know the illegal way and intend to use it?

"Yes."

What are the consequences? For you and for me?

"Hermione…I-" He began to splutter and she abruptly cut him off.

The only kind of illegal magic is dark magic and every such abominable act has repercussions.

"There would not be any…were I not branded a death eater."

Hermione's eyes became wide. You intend to bequeath a segment of your being unto me.

"Yes."

And being that your soul and magic are bound by the dark mark I could be bound to a fate similar to yours.

Snape nodded. "Only, you are not of pure blood or even half blood."

What would that mean for me?

"Truthfully, I can not say." He replied gravely and they sat in silence for a few long minutes.

What would that mean for you?

Snape only looked at her as if his eyes alone could repeat his prior statement. Ebony met warm brown briefly before he looked away. "Even my essence, as marred and decrepit as it is would be enough. I do not know what that would mean for either you or I, but know that I would be more than willing if you are amenable." He said and watched as Hermione looked up at him with both pity and curiosity and…something else as well. "Please, do not look at me that way. I have sacrificed much more for much less." He said as his hand drifted absently to clasp his arm where the dark mark must have been. Hermione suddenly noticed that instead of his usual bat-like robes he was wearing only a form-fitting white shirt similar to the one she wore and black pants. He must have normally worn layers of clothing as he appeared far slimmer and smaller in simply the shirt and pants.

But why sacrifice anything at all for a Gryffindor mudblood? Why not just let me die?

"I…" He stammered offhandedly looking to the corners of his room as if they held an answer. "It is all a matter of gaining Potter's trust." He said in a voice absolutely absent of conviction and sincerity. Hermione could see this plainly.

I am no tool to be used at the will of another, Severus.

"Hermione, please!" He gasped, his entire façade cracking a before her. "We haven't the time to play games! Will you live or will you…will you…" He trailed off again, seemingly unable to even vocalize something of such a macabre nature.

Die?

Hermione flinched but eventually grumbled a hesitant yes. He looked near tears before straightening up. His mask fell back into place.

"You must do as you will of course. It is no one else's choice to make. I will return within the hour. You do not have much longer than that." He then fled the room. Hermione broke down in tears the second the door shut.

Review Reply/ Author's Note:

KatAndMonkey: cool. That's exactly what I'm going for.

animesnape21: Dear Dolores will be dealt with...mwahaha!!

AN: There was an Obama ralley at my school today. Obama really is an inspiring speaker. He may even be less full of shit than John McCain. I hate politicians...