Severus had to blow the door off of it's hinges to get into the lab, and he almost froze at the scene in front of him. Smoke poured out of the room, and Severus immediately squinted and scanned the room as he ran in. There were flames sticking to the wooden tables around the table, and a putrid smell filled the room. He gagged slightly, the smoke and rotten smell forcing it out of him.
"Hermione!" He shouted, coughing. He heard shouts in the corridor, but continued further into the room. Why did her favorite cauldron have to be in the furthest corner of the room? He heard a cough, and felt relief flood through him. He followed the sound, and saw black robes through the smoke. She had been thrown against a cauldron that was still intact, and she looked to be in a great deal of pain.
"Sev-" Her voice was interrupted by a cough.
"I'm here." He said, kneeling down to pick her up, but she shook her head violently.
"Nev-" She coughed roughly, "Nev is here." She said, pointing a shaking hand to the corner of the room. Severus felt his stomach plummet as he noticed the mass that was under a burning table.
"I'll come back." He promised, attempting to wrap his arms around her to take her out of the room.
"No!" She cried, wincing and clutching her ribs. Tears began to stream down her face as she took a deep breath. "Get him." She said through clenched teeth before another fit of coughing overtook her.
"Fuck." He muttered under his breath. He nodded to her, and quickly made his way to the table. He paused, he wished he could use a flame-freezing charm, but he didn't want to cast anything as it might react badly with whatever was causing that horrid smell. He let out a frustrated growl before sticking both arms into the flames. He hissed as they licked at his arms, and tried to ignore the pain as his hands made contact with what felt like robes. He grabbed a fistful of the fabric into each hand and pulled hard. He dragged Longbottom out from under the table before lifting him in his arms with a grunt, the boy weighed more than he thought. He staggered out of the room, and walked into a crowd of people.
"Move!" He barked hoarsely, he had been breathing in far too much smoke for his voice to remain normal. "Get Minerva!" He said, setting Longbottom down on the floor leaning against the wall. He took a deep breath, his lungs burning, before turning back to the room. He ran to where Hermione was, and was horrified to realize that she was no longer conscious.
"Please be okay." He whispered, leaning down and lifting her up. He held her tight against his chest, walking as fast as he could back out of the door. He laid her gently next to Longbottom, and turned back to the room, lifting his wand.
"Aqua Eructo!" He called out, bracing himself as a stream of water rushed out of his wand. As soon as the water had extinguished the various fires around the room, Severus vanished the smoke and turned his attention back to Hermione and Longbottom. Minerva came running down the corridor, Madam Pomfrey close on her heels.
"Severus! What-" She stopped mid sentence, covering her mouth with one hand as she took in the scene.
"I don't know." He choked out.
"Off to bed, the lot of you!" Minerva called, shooing the students out of the corridor. Madam Pomfrey knelt down next to Longbottom, and pulled her wand out.
"Check her vitals Severus, make sure she is breathing and has a heartbeat." She said, not looking up from Longbottom. Severus nodded, and took a deep breath before pressing his fingers to her neck, he held his breath as he searched for the telltale thump of a heartbeat, only releasing it when he finally felt the small thump against his finger. He lay her down on the ground, and placed his head against her chest, once again holding his breath. His brow furrowed when he heard her take in a breath, it didn't seem normal.
"I don't understand…." Pomfrey said, shaking her head as she began to take Longbottom's vitals the muggle way as Severus just had.
"What is it?" Minerva asked, worry seeping through her voice.
"My charms aren't working." She answered. "His vitals are fine, but my charms weren't reading anything." She clarified.
"Is it your wand Poppy?" Minerva asked, looking down at the other woman with concern. She looked down at her wand and flicked it, setting the tip alight.
"No…" She said, looking down at Longbottom with a bewildered expression.
"Poppy!" Severus said, panicking as he noticed blood trickling from Hermione's mouth. She then turned her attention to Hermione, and after casting a couple charms she shook her head.
"We need to get them to the Hospital." She said.
"Okay." Severus agreed quickly, standing and conjuring a gurney.
"No, Severus. They need St. Mungo's." Poppy clarified.
"Oh." He said, nodding. "Right."
It had only taken a moment for the medi-wizard to apply a salve and wrap Severus' wrists and forearms, though he had taken a moment to chastise him about sticking his hands into fire. As soon as he was able, Severus had asked where Hermione was and was in her room.
"Oh Hermione, you foolish girl." He muttered, pulling the bedside chair closer to her and sitting down. He gently picked up her hand and kissed it. "What did you do?" He whispered, shaking his head as he looked over her. She was in a hospital gown that covered the vast majority of her, but he could see dark burn marks on her neck. He could only assume that they were covering her. He stayed by her side, holding her hand, until a medi-witch came to check on her.
"Has she stirred at all?" She asked, glancing at Severus who shook his head. "Well that's alright. We fed her a potion that should stop her internal bleeding, but for some reason our charms aren't working to be sure." She told him.
"Why aren't charms working?" Severus asked.
"We can't be sure, no charms are working on Miss Granger or Mister Longbottom. Do you have any idea what they were working on when the explosion happened?" She asked him. He shook his head silently, staring intently at the unconscious woman in front of him. "Well fortunately, it seems that Mr. Longbottom is in better condition than Miss Granger here, we hope he will wake soon and possibly be able to tell us what they were working on." Severus chose not to acknowledge her statement, and continued to just stare at Hermione. The medi-witch left soon after, leaving him to himself.
He was lost in his own mind, attempting to think about what they could have been doing to cause an explosion in the lab. He thought back to the state of the room, and sighed. The smoke had been so thick that he hadn't seem much of the room, but he remembered the horrid smell that had been wafting from the room and into the corridor. He hadn't been able to put a finger on the smell when he had rushed into the room, and it frustrated him that he still didn't know what the vital clue could be. He was interrupted from his thoughts by a knock on the closed door behind him. He stood and opened it to find his godson standing in front of him.
"Draco? What in Merlin's name are you doing here?" Severus asked, furrowing his brows.
"McGonagall told me what happened." The young man said, peering around Severus into the room. "Are you going to invite me in? Or are we waiting out here?" Draco asked, raising a questioning brow at him. Severus sighed and stepped aside, allowing Draco to enter the room.
"Why are you here?" Severus asked as he took his seat beside Hermione once more. Draco pulled another chair to the opposite side of Hermione, and took a seat before answering.
"I couldn't very well leave you to stew in your own thoughts." He said, relaxing into the chair.
"Minerva?" Severus asked. Draco let out a laugh and nodded.
"She was worried about you being alone." Draco said, shaking his head.
"I'm not alone." Severus said glaring at him.
"No offense, but I don't think Granger is the best company right now." Draco replied, gesturing to her. Severus frowned and furrowed his brow, not finding a valid argument to make. "Are you alright? McGonagall said that you were hurt too?" Draco asked after a pause.
"I'm fine. They healed me just fine its…" He trailed off, the concept of spells not working on either of them still stuck in his mind.
"What?" Draco asked, leaning forward.
"For some reason, spells and charms don't seem to be working on Hermione or Longbottom." Severus said, watching as Draco's eyebrows knitted together.
"How is that possible without a protego charm?" Draco asked, glancing down at Hermione. Severus shook his head and sighed.
"I don't know." They were both silent for a long moment, before Severus decided that silence wouldn't help him distract himself from the problem at hand. "I meant to visit." Severus told Draco.
"You had that whole inquiry business, I forgive you." Draco said, waving his hand at him. "Which reminds me, you never told me that you and Granger were seeing each other." Draco said with a smirk.
"Seeing as everyone read about it in the Daily Prophet, I hardly found it necessary to tell anyone about it." Severus said.
"Hm… I suppose that's true. Would have been nice for me to know before everyone else though, it's a shocking thing to read about." Draco said, pushing his hair out of his face and staring at Severus pointedly.
"Well, no undoing the past. Now you know." Severus said, gently taking Hermione's hand once more.
"How long have you two…?" Draco gestured vaguely at them, not finishing his question.
"Since the summer." Severus answered simply.
"And you're happy?" Draco asked.
"Right now? No." Severus answered, Draco let out a laugh and shook his head.
"In general, with your relationship, with your job?" Draco asked.
"Well… yes." Severus said, glancing up at his godson.
"Good."
Just as Severus was about to suggest that they go get some food, as it was getting late, a medi-witch burst into the room, looking excited. Severus stood after he took in her facial expression, and she grinned at him.
"Mister Longbottom is awake, he's looking for you." She told him. Severus turned back and looked at Hermione, worried about leaving her, and Draco waved his hand at him.
"I'll stay here, you go." He said. Severus looked at him for a moment, before nodding and exiting the room behind the medi-witch. They walked a few doors down before turning into a room on their left. Longbottom immediately looked relieved when he saw Severus, and sat up quickly.
"Professor, where's Hermione?" Neville asked, looking confused.
"I'm so sorry, Miss Granger is still unconscious." The medi-witch said before Severus could answer him.
"Longbottom, what were you and Hermione working on?" Severus asked, hoping that Longbottom would be able to give him a sufficient answer.
"She told me that George Weasley asked her about it. It was some… drinkable protego charm? Sir!" He said, his eyes growing wide. "Sir, she used Flobberworm Mucus charmed with protego."
"Flobberworm Mucus." Severus sighed. "That's what the smell was… Longbottom, stay still." He said, drawing his wand out. He saw a flicker of fear cross Longbottom's face, but then hard resolve. "I'm not going to curse you." Severus said, agitated. He cast a charm over Longbottom, the same he had heard Poppy mutter earlier, and was pleased when a green glow surrounded him. He nodded to himself before turning to the medi-witch, she looked shocked that the spell had worked.
"It-" She began, but Severus cut her off.
"Might you attend to Hermione Granger now?" He asked. She nodded, and hurried out of the room. He inclined his head to Longbottom once before exiting the room and making his way back to Hermione's, where he found an irate Draco standing outside of her room.
"They kicked me out! Arses! The lot of 'em!" He shouted, his face red.
"Calm yourself Draco, they can use spells on them again." Severus said, although he couldn't keep the worry from his face. Draco took a few deep, angry, breaths and his face slowly worked back to its natural pale color.
"Longbottom?" He asked. Severus turned his head and raised an eyebrow at him. Draco sighed and rolled his eyes. "I might not like him, but if him and Hermione were exposed to the same thing…" He trailed off, staring at Hermione's door ahead of them.
"He's fine, looked like he had a few burns, but otherwise fine." Severus answered.
"Do you think…?" Draco left his question unfinished, but Severus understood what he was attempting to convey.
"I don't know." Severus answered honestly. They fell into a silence, both of them just standing in the middle of the corridor staring at the closed hospital door in front of them.
It felt like hours they were standing in the corridor, watching people pass them and waiting for the door to open. More than once, someone exited the room looking frenzied. Severus would try to ask them something, but they would only spare him a quick glance before walking briskly away. They would return, arms full of potions, and enter the room just as quickly as they had entered it. Severus felt that he had been more than patient with this, but he had lost that patience. He stood ready to grab the next person to leave the room, ready to get some answers. The door opened, and he reached out to grab the first person to leave, but instead of just the usual one medi-witch, a large group exited the room, looking relieved. The last person to exit the room caught sight of Severus, and took the few steps over to him. She reached out her hand and grasped his in a tight handshake.
"You must be Mister Snape, I'm Medi-witch McClain, I've been in charge of the care of Miss Granger." She introduced herself.
"Is she okay?" Severus asked quickly. He saw her eyes flick to his side, where he knew Draco was standing next to him.
"Erm… I'm not sure if I should-" She began, though he quickly cut her off.
"Is. She. Okay?" Severus asked, his teeth clenched together tightly.
"Yes sir." She answered quickly. "I do apologize that nobody has given you any information until now, but there was a few… complications." She said nervously.
"What do you mean?" He asked, furrowing his brow.
"We thought that we had stopped her internal bleeding before, but we had just slowed it down. She had lost too much blood, and we had to pinpoint where the bleeding was coming from to stop it. Her burns… There was so much residue from the potion she had been brewing, we had to clean it out slowly the muggle way and care for it. The burns have affected a large bit of her side, we have a salve on it now to prevent any sort of infection, but we didn't want to douse a potion on it just in case it reacted badly with any other potions we had given her or the potion that had affected her before." The medi-witch explained everything carefully.
"Thank you." Draco said, when it became obvious that Severus wasn't speaking. "May we go in and see her?" He asked, flashing the witch a charming smile.
"Oh, yes of course." She replied, a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks. "She is sleeping now, and she needs it, so be sure not to wake her." The medi-witch warned, before walking away with the backs of her hands pressed to her red cheeks.
Severus led the way into the room, and returned to his seat next to Hermione. He took in a deep breath, and felt relief flood through his chest. He felt a stinging in his eyes, and opened them wide as he took another deep breath, he was not going to shed a tear in front of his godson. Draco cleared his throat after seeing the expression on his face, and averted his eyes.
"I'll go to the cafe and get us some coffee, would you like anything else?" He asked. Severus shook his head, not particularly wanting the coffee either but knowing it might help. His godson nodded and exited the room, closing the door softly behind him.
"You stupid girl…" Severus muttered, taking a shaky breath and allowing the stinging in his eyes to grow. He reached out and gently took her hand in his. "Stupid, stupid girl." He muttered again, shaking his head and roughly wiping tears away from his eyes. "I love you." He whispered as his vision cleared. He found himself able to take normal breaths again, and gently brought her hand to his lips. He felt her hand twitch, and remembering what the medi-witch had warned, he slowly placed her hand back down on the bed and waited for Draco to return.
The coffee was a relief, as the warmth of it flooded through him. He cradled the mug in his hands, and watched as Draco did the same across the bed from him. His godson was staring down into his mug, watching as the steam from the hot drink rose. Severus had watched him enough over the years to know that Draco was deep in thought, and he decided that he had suffered enough of the silence.
"What?" He asked, Draco rose his head and raised his eyebrows. "What are you thinking?" Severus expanded on his question.
"Just…" He glanced at Hermione, "how did this happen?" He asked.
"You already know, a potion exploded." Severus said, wondering if somehow his godson had suffered brain damage to make him forget their conversation.
"No, not that. How did you and Hermione, how did this happen?" He asked, gesturing to the two of them. "I've been going over everything. Everything that could have led to the two of you, and I just can't figure it out." Draco explained. Severus leaned back in his chair and let out a chuckle.
"Well first, she saved my life. She came down to the Shrieking Shack and saved me. She would visit me when I was stuck here after… well after everything. She told me that she testified for me at the trials. After everything she had been through, everything I had put her through, she still decided to ask me if she could be my apprentice. You can't deny that she's brilliant." Severus said, gazing fondly at the woman in front of him. Draco let a small smile grace his face, and leaned forward in interest. "The first potion that we brewed with the sixth years was amortentia. It smelled like her, my entire life it had smelled like Lily Evans, but it changed that day. I didn't know at first, I figured it out later, but I knew it had changed. I- well, we- fought our feelings. It was wrong. She is twenty years younger than me, she was my student. Everything told me that I needed to keep my distance, but with her nightmares and being my apprentice, it was just too difficult. We became friends." He was silent for a moment, just staring at Hermione. He dragged his eyes away from her when Draco cleared his throat, and took a sip of his now lukewarm coffee.
"You really want to hear this?" He asked, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"I really do. My parents never had a love story to tell me, I want to hear yours." Draco said, avoiding his gaze.
"Very well." Severus sighed. "She passed her Master's Board early, according to her contract she was to stay at Spinner's End during holidays. I told her that she didn't have to stay since she had already completed her Board, but she said that she wanted to and that she didn't want to stay with Potter or her friends. Everything just… changed that summer. Rowle attacked her at my home, and I stayed with her that night. That night really just changed everything. The next morning, she confronted me about how she felt. She said that she wanted to be with me. After a discussion, we agreed. We would keep it a secret from everybody, except Minerva. I wouldn't have been able to hide that from her very well. Minerva decided to throw the Yule Ball, and of course people noticed that we were together in more that just a colleague way. Then, of course you know about the inquiry, and that brings us to now." Severus concluded, downing the remainder of his coffee.
"That's it?" Draco asked, raising his eyebrows.
"That's all." Severus affirmed.
"Simple." Draco said, looking down into his mug.
"I suppose, yes." Severus agreed with a nod, turning his gaze back to Hermione.
"Did you ever find out what she and Longbottom had been working on?" Draco asked.
"Yes. She was attempting to brew a drinkable protego charm. Something that the user would be able to use at all times, instead of keeping a protego up." Severus answered, Draco let out a breath of air, looking impressed.
"Wait, is that why spells weren't working on her or Longbottom?" Draco asked.
"I think so." Severus nodded his head. "But they didn't ingest it, I don't think so anyway. They did, however, inhale it. I can only assume that charms wouldn't have been able to work on me either, the medi-wizard who helped me only wrapped the burns I received."
"That's incredible." Draco said, sounding astonished.
"She is." Severus said, just as Hermione began to stir in the bed.