****Please read this first: This story took a different turn, and it now requires a trigger warning for discussion of rape. It will still be an eventual Snamione, but it will take a bit to get there.
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Hermione gradually began to feel stronger. She didn't get so exhausted just walking to class. Twice a week for a month, she was expected to come to the infirmary for a check up, and to receive a vial of bloodbuilder. She still hadn't spoken to Ginny or Ron, and she suspected Harry was forbidden from having any contact with her.
She ate her meals with Luna and Neville, and sometimes also Draco. It was plain to see that his time as a Death Eater had taken a toll on him. He often was in the library reading until late at night because nightmares plagued him, if he slept at all. Hermione was often there at night, as nightmares kept her from sleeping as well. They often ended up sitting near each other, in front of the fire, as they both silently immersed themselves in a book to forget the war.
It was on one of those nights, four weeks after the potion, that Draco managed to talk frankly to Hermione. Both had been avoiding speaking about her torture at Malfoy Manor. They'd both been in the potions section when he'd suddenly turned to her and tapped her shoulder to get her attention.
"Hermione, I'm sorry. I truly am. I wish I could have done something to help you."
She froze where she stood, halfway through turning a page. The words blurred in front of her eyes and she could no longer comprehend them. She looked up at Draco, unable to speak. He looked intensely sad.
"I know what Bellatrix and the others did to you. I just stood there and let it happen. I did nothing. I should have died when the fiendfyre burned out of control." The wizard leaned his forehead against the stack of books and let out a long breath. The memory of seeing his friend Vincent falling backwards into the fire was never far away from his mind.
Hermione was still unable to speak, and she didn't trust her voice, but she grabbed Draco's hands and squeezed them with both of hers as she nodded her head. Then she quickly but carefully placed her books and scrolls into her bag and fled the library.
Professor Snape was nearby, looking for an old text on potions. He witnessed the exchange, but did not make his presence known. What he heard confirmed what Bellatrix had bragged about. Hermione had been tortured badly. After witnessing her hasty exit, he quickly put down what he was holding and followed. To his relief, she ran straight up to the Ravenclaw tower. He made his way back to the library and returned to his previous task.
The next night, Hermione found herself outside Professor Snape's quarters again. Her conversation with Draco had ripped off the already fragile scabs grown over the mental wounds of surviving torture. She hadn't slept at all after their talk, and on this night had scarcely fallen asleep when another nightmare had robbed her of needed rest. She'd barely managed to hold it together during her classes, and had skipped all three meals.
The Potions Master answered the door wearing those black sweat pants and a tee shirt, and let her in again.
"Another nightmare?"
"Yes, sir."
"Would you like some tea?"
"Yes."
She sat in the same chair by the fire again, and he soon entered and handed her a steaming mug.
"Professor, am I a bad person?"
"Now why would you think that?" He had not been expecting that question, and he wasn't a person taken by surprise easily.
"I slept with my best friend's boyfriend and cheated on Ron. I terminated my pregnancy. Then I left everybody and moved to Ravenclaw. So many things I did during the war….."
"Hermione, listen to me. We all did things we're not proud of during the war. That doesn't make you a bad person." He paused to give her a chance to digest what he said.
"Many, many people make mistakes in the heat of the moment. It's more common than you think. That doesn't make you a bad person, either."
He paused to take a sip of his tea while it was still hot.
"As for your pregnancy, do you really think your child would have had a good life, born into the circumstances it was?" He'd grown up an inconvenient child, and it wasn't a good life. His father regularly beat both his mother and himself. He'd spent his days alone, with little love or affection, save for one girl… The redhead who still haunted his dreams and his thoughts had been the one bright spot in a very dark life, until he'd lost her, too. The weary brunette in front of him reminded him of Lily. Intelligent. Outspoken. Ready to fight for what she believed in.
"No, I don't think so. They would have grown up being resented at the very least by a family of Weasleys, by Harry and likely by me. I'm not ready to be a mother yet." Hermione shook her head as she tried to picture herself caring for a baby. She had never cared for any living being except Crookshanks, her ginger cat. He was able, at least, to look after himself.
"Growing up as a resented and unwanted child is not a nice thing, I assure you." The professor stood up as he spoke, willing to reveal that tiny tidbit of himself but nothing else. Hermione's eyes followed him, waiting for him to continue speaking, but he didn't.
Her gaze traveled to the fire. Her parents had always made sure she knew she was loved, but not every child had that experience growing up. Harry certainly had not, as he had revealed bits and pieces during their time on the run about his life with the Dursley's. Now she knew that her professor had not, either. Seeing that he didn't care to reveal more about himself, she didn't probe for details.
Her exchange with Draco in the library returned to her mind. She wondered what had transpired at the Manor after she was rendered unconscious by a stupefy spell. In his apology, he had said he knew what Bellatrix and the others had done. But Hermione only remembered being attacked by the now deceased dark witch, not anyone else.
Then she remembered how the snatchers had leered at her in the forest, how closely into her personal space they'd gotten with threats of wanting to do things to her. A feeling of nausea, accompanied by a feeling of dread, sank into her gut. She tried to take a sip of tea to calm her nerves, but found she couldn't swallow it. Suddenly, she felt sure she was going to vomit as she remembered the hungry looks on the faces around her during her capture and torture.
She jumped to her feet, hoping not to mess the black carpet. "The loo?"
Seeing her distress, the professor wordlessly pointed down the hall. She barely had the door open and the lid up before her tea made a reappearance. After emptying her stomach, she wiped her face with a cool washcloth Professor Snape handed her. She set it down and with a nod accepted the nausea potion he handed her.
After swallowing it and handing him back the empty vial, she walked back out to the sitting room and sank into the chair by the fireplace.
The professor also sat down. He looked concerned. "Care to tell me what happened there, Miss Granger?"
Hermione took a deep breath, unsure of how to ask the questions she was sure he knew the answer to. He hadn't been present that day, but it was highly likely that he knew what had been done to her as he'd been a spy in the Death Eater ranks at the time.
"Draco talked to me yesterday in the library. He apologized for what happened to me at Malfoy Manor, for what Bellatrix and the others did to me." The professor visibly flinched at her words. "But I only remember her attacking me, no one else."
Professor Snape had been sitting down with his tea, but at her words he set it down, then stood up and stared into the fire as he leaned on the mantle. Without looking at her, he spoke. "You want to know what was done to you after she performed the stupefy hex on you? While you were unconscious?"
Hermione's voice shook. "Y-yes, sir."
"Is that what caused you to throw up just now, thinking about that?"
"Yes. I know you weren't there, sir, but do you know what they did to me?"
The professor turned away from the fire and faced her. His usually stoic features displayed sadness and anger. "Yes, I do. Bellatrix was quite vocal about it in the days following, as were others." His eyes blazed. "It took everything I had not to tear them all limb from limb with every curse I knew."
Hermione could scarcely breathe, let alone speak. "Wha…"
He cut her off. "What do you remember?"
Hermione was barely able to whisper. "I remember her putting the Cruciatis curse on me, biting me, feeling the worst pain I've ever felt in my life, I remember them standing around watching and the looks on their faces. They looked so evil, and so… so hungry. Then it went black."
He turned to face the fire again. "It might be better if you don't know, Miss Granger."
"I know how I felt when I woke up. My whole body hurt horribly. But especially down…" She trailed off, embarrassed, and looked away. She was not discussing her vagina with this professor.
He turned to look at her, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Down?"
She sighed and pointed towards her middle without making eye contact with the Potion Master. "Down there. I was sore for days. Everything was."
Her professor covered his face with his hands and sat down. After a moment, he lifted his head up and looked her in the eye. "Whatever you think happened, you are most likely right."
"All of them? Draco?" Hermione felt numb. Just numb.
The expression on her professor's face confirmed her suspicions. He wore an intense mixture of sadness and anger on his face. She remembered the anguished expression on Draco's face as he had apologized to her.
She suddenly felt the need to run to the bathroom again, and spent several agonizing minutes dry-heaving over the toilet. As her empty gut spasmed, she felt a large, warm hand on her back.
Once again, he handed her a cool washcloth. After she'd set it down, he placed his hands on her shoulders and guided her back to her chair. She was glad for his steadying touch, as she was trembling and didn't trust her legs. He returned a moment later with another nausea potion and the Draught of Peace.
With trembling hands, Hermione accepted both gratefully, then handed him the empty vials after swallowing them. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about the Manor, but failed to shake the images in her mind.
He wordlessly sent the vials back, and sat down by the fireplace in his chair, never taking his eyes off her.
"Hermione, I am so sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't there to somehow protect you." She looked up at him to acknowledge she heard, but was unable to speak.
The trembling finally stopped, likely due to the calming effects of the draught. She felt her eyelids grow heavy, and curled up against the side of the chair. Within a few moments, she was asleep.
The professor levitated her to his couch, and covered her with a blanket, then gently placed a pillow under his head. Satisfied that she was resting comfortably, he retrieved a bottle of whiskey and a glass and poured himself some. He extinguished the candles and sat in the dark watching the fire and keeping an eye on the sleeping girl. He was thankful he had not been present at the Manor that day, as his Headmaster duties had kept him at the school. This year, he had chosen not to be Headmaster, and Professor Mcgonagall had instead been placed in that role.
After school had resumed, he had kept watch over her, wondering how she was affected. She was quieter perhaps, but no less fierce. It appears his former brethren of the mark had wounded, but not broken, the lioness.
As he contemplated all the events of the night, he revisited a thought that had occurred to him several times since the day he'd provided the abortifacient. Hermione's pregnancy might not have been a result of her tryst with Harry at all. The two events had occurred close together from what he had put together and what both students had told him.
The trauma her body had endured may have contributed to why it reacted so adversely to the maternus interruptus. The girl had hemorrhaged and Madame Pomfrey had worked hard to control it. Had she passed out anywhere else besides his class, where he knew exactly what was going on, she possibly could have died.
The thought of Hermione dying brought his heart into his throat. He knew she meant a great deal to him, but it was not something she could handle him telling her anytime soon.
:::::::::::
When Hermione woke up, the first thing that struck her senses was the smell of herbs. A very soft blanket rested against her cheek. It was green, not her own red and gold blanket in her room. She heard the sound of someone breathing, and pulled the blanket away. It was dark, save the ambient glow of the fireplace, but she could make out the form of Professor Snape sleeping in his chair. She tiptoed through the quarters to the loo and then back. Seeing her half-full cup of cold tea on the table, she knocked it back and tried to remember what had transpired the previous night. Why was she here and not in her room with Luna?
The professor woke up as she set her cup down.
"How are you feeling this morning, Miss Granger?"
The memory of their conversation flooded over her like a dark tsunami. She laid down, pulled the blanket over her head and turned to face the back of the couch. The faces of the Death Eaters swam into her vision and she began to tremble again.
"Are you hungry?"
"No." Hermione feared anything she ate would immediately make a reappearance.
"Would you like some tea?"
She pulled the blanket off her face and sat up. "I'll try it."
She wrapped the blanket snugly around herself as he brewed a pot. The dungeon was chilly and the feeling of the blanket around her was comforting. After he handed her a cup, she wrapped her hands around it and sniffed. It smelled like honey, lavender and chamomile. It tasted amazing.
"It's delicious, sir."
"Thank you. I created it a few weeks ago. It has two relaxing herbs in it, that I thought you might appreciate right now."
"Yes, thank you."
Both sat in silence, sipping their tea. Hermione contemplated a question that had started rolling around her head while in the loo.
"Sir, do you think it's possible that it wasn't Harry's baby after all?"
"Yes, that is a very distinct possibility that I've considered since you initially requested the potion. Even more reason you did the right thing."
At the thought of carrying the child of one of those men, her tea threatened to make a reappearance. She closed her eyes and took a slow deep breath and willed her stomach to settle down.
"Do you need another nausea potion?"
"Yes, sir." Hermione kept her eyes closed and focused on her breathing. She felt the potion being placed into her hand and opened her eyes to swallow all of it and hand the vial back.
"Thank you." She offered a small smile to this man who had been helping her. He'd opened his own apartment to her, something he didn't need to do.
"I need to make an appearance at breakfast this morning. You are welcome to stay here for the time being, to get your head together, if you're not ready to go back to your dorm."
"Thank you, Professor. I think I will stay. I'm not ready to see anybody else just yet."
"Do you need another calming potion?"
"I don't believe I will. Thank you."
He nodded at her and made his exit. Hermione wrapped herself back up in the blanket and watched the fire.
In the Great Hall, Draco sat with Luna and Neville for breakfast. He watched Neville pile beans, eggs, roasted tomatoes, sausage, bacon and toast onto his plate. His own contained a piece of toast with two bites out of it.
The spot that was normally occupied by Hermione remained empty. "Where's Granger?", he asked Luna, while pointing to her spot.
"I don't know, she was in our dorm last night when I went to sleep, but she wasn't there this morning."
"Has she been okay lately? I didn't see her at any meals yesterday."
"Yeah, why wouldn't she be?" Luna narrowed her eyes at the blonde Slytherin, wondering if he somehow knew about her roommate's recent life events.
"Well…." Draco scratched his head and wished he'd kept his mouth shut. "You were there at the Manor when she was, right? You know she was tortured, I know you had to have heard her screams."
Luna nodded sadly. She'd suffered several Cruciatis attacks by the psychotic witch herself, but because she was pure blooded, it had been delivered at a worse extent to the muggle born Hermione. She suspected the Death Eaters had raped her, but would never ask. If her roommate wished to discuss it with her, she would bring it up herself.
"I did. I'm aware, at least of most of it. She wakes up screaming a lot. Then she usually gets up and goes to the library."
Draco looked down at his plate, a solid pit as heavy as iron forming in his gut. He wondered if the frizzy haired brunette knew what had been done to her after she'd been spelled unconscious. Worse, did she know of his part in it, coerced as it was? He chanced a glance at the one other person in the Great Hall who knew what had transpired that day. The professor who was often referred to as the dungeon bat was drinking coffee at the head table. He looked over at Draco, nodded and raised an eyebrow, then looked away.
The blonde Slytherin excused himself from the table. He had often come to Professor Snape since school had started again two months ago. Nobody else understood him, how he had taken the Dark Mark against his will to protect his family. Far too many of his fellow students treated him with mistrust and disrespect. The only students who ever talked to him were Hermione, Neville and Luna.
Seeing his professor exiting the hall, he hurried to catch up with him.
"Did you need something, Mr. Malfoy?"
"Yes. Are you going to your office?"
"I can. Walk with me."
After the office door had been shut and warded, the professor sat down and faced Draco.
"What's on your mind?"
"It's Granger. She wasn't at breakfast, or at any meals yesterday. Is she alright? She looked really upset after I talked to her in the library Thursday night."
"You brought me down here to discuss Gryffindor eating habits?"
Draco managed a brief smirk. "No, sir. We both go to the library at night a lot. Thursday I apologized to her for what happened to her at my parent's home and she looked really upset. I didn't see her at any meals on Friday, just classes, and she wasn't there this morning. Does she know everything? Does she know I…."
As the younger wizard's voice dropped off, he turned away and kicked a chair. It skidded across the room and hit the wall. He aimed his wand at it to turn it to splinters, but a loud "expelliarmus" pulled it out of his hand.
His professor stood by him, holding the wand and scowling. "Pull yourself together, Mr. Malfoy. I will not have you destroying my office."
Draco mumbled a quiet apology and retrieved the chair. Then he set it right and sat down in it.
His professor returned his wand, then leaned against the desk and faced him.
"I actually have spoken with Miss Granger regarding that day. She is aware of what unfolded as well as who was involved." At the younger man's facial expression, he put up both of his hands. "I did not tell her, she very recently figured it out on her own and I merely confirmed her suspicions for her."
The color drained from Draco's face. "She's going to hate me. I had to do it, sir, or my aunt was going to use the Cruciatis on my mother if I didn't."
"I know, Draco. Bellatrix was so busy bragging that she let that slip out. Right now, Miss Granger is not feeling like she can see anybody else, as she just came to these conclusions on her own and sought me out because she knew I likely had knowledge of what transpired."
"Can I talk to her?"
The professor put his hand up. "No, absolutely not. She will talk to you on her own when she is ready. Until then, I strongly suggest keeping your distance."
The blonde Slytherin's head dropped. Hermione was one of his few friends. He nodded in silent agreement and moved towards the door. "Thank you, sir. I will see you in class Monday."
The dark haired professor nodded. "Good day."
After the door shut, he crossed through the opposite door into his quarters. Hermione still sat on the couch under his green Slytherin blanket, facing the fire. The yellow orange glow reflected off of shiny trails on her cheeks, betraying that recent tears had been there.
He sat down on the couch near her, but remained silent, watching and trying to discern if she was suicidal. It was not that many weeks ago that he had talked her down from the literal edge, on the top of the astronomy tower.
Hermione felt no desire to talk, and pulled the blanket tighter around herself. A fresh batch of tears silently ran down her cheeks. Remembering how comforting her professor's hugs had felt the night he'd healed her scar, she scooted up to him and leaned on his shoulder. After a moment, he hesitantly put an arm around her and she turned her face into his chest. Breathing in the smell of herbs on his robe, she sighed. After several moments, she felt him briefly press his lips into her hair and she could feel his long fingers stroking her arm. A few moments later, she fell asleep.
When Hermione woke up, the afternoon sun was shining through the window in Professor Snape's quarters. She was laying on the couch alone, covered with the same fuzzy green blanket. She could hear sounds coming from the office, as the door that connected the quarters to it was open. Folding the blanket, she stood up and walked over to the doorway.
"Anything I can help with, sir?"
Professor Snape looked up at her in surprise. He motioned to a piece of parchment laying on the counter near him. "It's still under development."
Post Trauma Brew
Boil 5 Lavender sprigs with
4 Chamomile flowers
And 2 inches of diced Valerian root
For 15 minutes or until light brown.
Let rest for one hour.
In seperate cauldron,
Boil 10 Peppermint leaves,
3 Rosemary sprigs,
2 diced Passionflowers
For 20 minutes, until sapphire blue.
Add 3 sprigs of Eucalyptus
And simmer until Slytherin green.
Add all of 1st cauldron to second,
Simmer until it turns royal blue.
Allow to cool one hour before bottling.
A vial can be consumed
before sleep to avoid nightmares,
or half a vial at times of emotional upset when calming is needed.
Hermione was very much interested in helping to develop and brew this, it looked like something she could benefit from.
"Did you create this yourself, sir? I'd be willing to be a test subject for it."
"Since the war ended, there's been many people dealing with the after effects of trauma. I'm hoping this will at least help them sleep through the night."
"Could I try it tonight?"
"You may. I'll want notes from you tomorrow about how long you slept, if you had any nightmares, and any after effects you felt in the morning." He handed her a vial. Hermione admired the color of the liquid as she held it in her hand.
"I can do that. I love research, you know me."
The professor smiled and cast a tempus charm. "I'll be brewing more tomorrow, depending on the results of several testers, and you are welcome to assist me. It's 11 o'clock. I'm expecting someone in my office shortly to pick up a couple vials of this, for testing, and it's someone you likely don't want to see." He gave her a pointed look. "You are welcome to stay in my quarters if you don't want to go back to your dorm yet."
Hermione understood who he meant. Draco. She didn't want to see him, Professor Snape was correct about that.
"I'll go back to my dorm. Thank you for everything, sir."
The Slytherin head nodded in acknowledgment, and she made her way out of the lab into the rest of the dungeon. Unfortunately, Draco was just stepping off the staircase as she approached it. Seeing her, he dropped his head and sped up his pace.
Seeing the blonde wizard startled the brunette Gryffindor and she quickly ran up to her dorm. Upon reaching it, she quickly shut and warded the door. Her red and gold blanket was laying on the bed, so she wrapped herself in it and stared out the window at the Black lake.
Hermione knew everyone else would soon be at lunch, and that she should also eat, but there was no way it would stay down. She tried to study her potions manual, but the words all blended together.
After a few hours, Luna returned to the dorm carrying food. She set a chicken sandwich, chips and a glass of pumpkin juice in front of her roommate.
"I was hoping you'd be here. I brought some food, just in case."
"Thank you, Luna!"
As she made an honest attempt to eat, she suddenly became aware of a wand waving about in front of her.
"What are you doing, Luna?"
"I'm practicing my diagnosis charms on you. I'm training to be a healer now."
"Are you really? Congratulations! You'll be amazing at it. I remember when you fixed Harry's broken nose." Hermione felt genuinely happy for her.
"Have you considered apprenticing in potions? I bet you'd be good at it, and you seem to get along with the Potion Master very well."
"What?" The brunette looked surprised at the blonde's statement. "The apprenticeship, maybe. The Potion Master, no." But even as she said it, she knew she was starting to fancy him. Just a little.
Hermione managed to eat half of the sandwich and the chips and drank all the pumpkin juice.
"Thank you again for the food. I guess I was hungry after all. I think I'm going to take a nap."
Luna turned to go. "I'll be in the infirmary doing training. I'll see you later tonight."
"See you later! Have a good shift!"
After her roommate had left, Hermione took the vial of Post Trauma Brew out of her pocket. She eyed the clear, sapphire colored liquid and held it up to the light.
Removing the cap, she waved her hand above it towards her face, directing the scent to her nose. It smelled earthy, with mint and floral notes. She took a sip and found it tasted like it smelled, so she swallowed the whole vial and wrote on a blank piece of parchment that she took it at 4 pm. She set the empty vial on her bedside table and curled up with her blanket. As she drifted off, she found herself wishing it was a certain Slytherin green blanket.
/^^/^^/^^/^^/^^/^^/^
When Luna returned from her shift at the infirmary late that night, she observed her roommate sleeping and tried to be as quiet as possible. However, she accidentally knocked over a stack of books. With a quick glance across the room, she noticed the brunette hadn't budged.
When the sun's first rays came through the window and fell on her face, Hermione's eyes opened. She felt disoriented at first, and sat up to get her bearings. The notation she'd made on the parchment said she'd taken the potion at 4 PM. Casting a tempus revealed it was now 6 AM.
Remembering Professor Snape's instructions to make notes on how long she'd slept, she wrote down that she'd slept until 6 AM, with no nightmares and no dreams. 14 hours, more than the cumulative sleep she'd managed to get over the past week, aside from the sleep she'd gotten on her professor's couch.
Luna was still sleeping, so Hermione silently dressed, grabbed her bag, put in the empty vial and her parchment of notes and tiptoed out. Once she was out of the tower, she resumed a normal step. Her stomach growled, so she set off for the Great Hall.
Professor Snape was already eating his breakfast. He nodded his head at her when she sat down. Hermione put bacon, sausage, toast and eggs on her plate, and was able to eat all of it.
As she was wiping the crumbs off her fingers and wiping her mouth, she noticed the Potion Master leaving the Head Table. She quickly snatched up her bag and followed.
At the top of the stairs, Professor Snape paused to allow her to catch up.
"So how did you sleep?"
"Really well. 14 hours. No nightmares."
Her professor raised his eyebrows and nodded.
"Appetite better?"
Hermione smiled. "Yes, sir."
"Feelings of anxiety? Panic? Dread? Impending doom?"
"Not now, sir, but I'm sure they'll return."
As if her words had been divination, Draco appeared around a corner as they approached the Potion Master's office. Seeing Hermione, he shrank back and quickly handed an empty vial and a parchment to the Professor. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Then he ran towards the stairs and disappeared.
The professor opened the door for her to enter and looked down at her with a shake of his head. "You were saying?"
Hermione quickly hurried into the office, her heart beating rapidly. "Does he know I figured it all out?" Just like blowing out a candle, the good mood she'd woken up with was gone.
"Yes, he does. He's been advised to keep his distance from you." The Slytherin quickly read the parchment and shook his head. "He's not coping well. Barely eating. Barely sleeping. He took the full Post Trauma dose last night, and only got 4 hours. His father is in Azkaban, his mother is dead. Most of his extended family is dead or in Azkaban. Most of the students here hate him. I'm trying to help him transfer to a university in Europe, where no one knows him and he can start over. But, first I have to get him into a better mental state."
"That's why you created the Post Trauma Brew?"
"Yes", her professor nodded at her. "It is. But that's enough about Draco. Are you doing alright?"
"I was in such a good mood this morning, I should have known it wouldn't last."
"Whether you choose to make your good mood last or if you allow 30 seconds of seeing him to ruin your entire day, is entirely up to you, Hermione."
The brunette glanced up at him and contemplated what he told her. He was right. Why should she allow 30 seconds of being in close proximity to Draco ruin her entire day?
"I think maybe tonight I should take a little less of the Post Trauma brew. I don't want to oversleep and miss classes."
"How about just half? Then make notes again on the same parchment, with the times, how you slept and appetite." He handed Hermione another vial of sapphire blue liquid, which she placed in a robe pocket.
He handed her the parchment of ingredients, and she retrieved them from the storeroom.
"While you're preparing those, I'm going to go up to Slytherin and deliver these two vials to Draco." Hermione saw two vials in his hand.
As he left, she set to work on preparing the ingredients. The office soon filled with the scent of lavender and chamomile flowers.
After she'd finished preparing the peppermint, spearmint and passionflower, she noticed Professor Snape had been gone a long time. Suddenly, the floo flared to life and the professor in question's voice sounded across his office.
"Hermione! I'm in the infirmary with Draco. He tried to kill himself. I need you to bring up all the strengthening potion and bloodbuilder."
"Yes, sir." Hermione immediately grabbed a basket, filled it with all the requested vials and flooed to the infirmary.
A very pale Draco was laying motionless on a bed, surrounded by Professor Snape, Headmistress Mcgonagall, Luna and the Mediwitch. She handed the basket to Madame Pomfrey.
The professor took his attention away from his Slytherin student long enough to address her. "Hermione, stop brewing the Post Trauma Brew and start brewing bloodbuilder immediately. The instructions are in my manual on my office counter. Make 4 cauldrons."
"Yes, sir." Without hesitation, she flooed to the office and set to work.
Up in the infirmary, the two professors exchanged a look with the Mediwitch and Luna.
"If anyone can handle it, she can," the Headmistress stated with a nod.
"Absolutely", agreed the Slytherin head.
Draco had used the Sectumsempra curse to slice gashes into his wrists, thighs and neck. The bleeding had been stopped, the gashes healed, but his blood pressure and blood counts remained dangerously low.
Down in the potions office, Hermione rapidly found the prescribed portion instructions and set to work dicing up everything as written out by Professor Snape. Beetroot, spleen, marrow, spinach, aloe gel.
Quickly she set each cauldron to boiling and added each ingredient except the gel and the spinach, aware that a classmate's life hung in the balance. After attaining the needed color, she ground the spinach with a mortar and pestle and combined it with the gel, then added it to the cauldron, four times.
Two hours after starting, she flooed back up with 40 vials of completed and cooled bloodbuilder. Madame Pomfrey immediately took ten and spelled them into Draco.
"Hermione, go make 4 more and deliver it all up here. Then do 4 cauldrons of strengthening potion." Professor Snape was sitting next to Draco's still form, holding his hand. She nodded as she remembered that he was the closest to family the younger Malfoy had.
As she immediately set to work making more bloodbuilder, she considered what a potions apprenticeship would mean. Working closely with Professor Snape, creating and testing new potions, working with healers. It all appealed to her. But she wouldn't approach the Potion Master on the subject yet. On that front, Hermione felt uncertain.
Another two hours later, she brought up the 40 bloodbuilders. The cauldrons of the strengthening potion were already simmering, so she hurried back after a brief glance at Draco. He was impossibly pale, and so still.
The ingredients of the strengthening potion were not so different than the bloodbuilder. Marrow, plantain leaves, beetroot and Moringa leaves. The diced marrow was boiled with the vertically sliced plantain leaves until it reached a brown maroon color. Then she added the beetroot and simmered it until it turned purple, then rested it 30 minutes. Restarting the fires below, she added the crushed Moringa leaves, smiling at how Professor Snape had underlined and starred the word crushed.
After simmering the strengthener for 10 minutes and noting the Slytherin green hue, she extinguished the fires and recited the prescribed cooling charm over each cauldron. Then she bottled it in 40 vials and flooed up.
After restocking the infirmary stockroom, she noticed the Headmistress approaching her.
"You did very well, my dear. I don't imagine you've eaten, have you?"
"I did eat breakfast early. But nothing since."
The bespectacled witch placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's 5 PM. Let's go grab some supper, shall we?"
"Yes, Headmistress." Luna also walked to the Great Hall with them, and the two students sat down at the Ravenclaw table while the professor took her seat at the Head table.
While they were eating, Hermione noticed Ginny, Harry and Ron looking at her. She dug into her food and tried to ignore them. All the brewing and flooing back and forth had worked up her appetite. Thankfully, Neville soon sat down directly in their line of vision.
"Thank you, Neville." She smiled gratefully at her friend.
"I noticed they were all staring at you, and that you didn't seem to appreciate it."
She shook her head. "No, I definitely didn't."
He turned to Luna. "Is it true about Draco?"
"Sorry, Longbottom. What happens in the infirmary, stays in the infirmary. We've discussed this."
He smiled at her and she smiled back. It was clear to Hermione that her two friends cared deeply about each other.
She remembered when she and Ron used to look at each other like that. Or had they? She began to wonder if they'd ever shared that kind of affection for each other. The more she thought about it, the more she was sure they did not.
Her thoughts continued on a slow downward spiral. She felt damaged now. Undesirable. She'd had a one time tryst with her former best friend. Numerous Death Eaters had forced themselves on her as she lay unconscious. She'd ended her pregnancy. Who would want her now?
A patronus of a lioness bounded across their table and stopped in front of Luna. "We need more bloodbuilder and strengthener, and we need your help, Luna."
Both girls jumped up and raced for the infirmary, where Hermione flooed to the potions lab. Thankfully, there was plenty of ingredients for each needed potion, thanks to Professor Snape.
It was nearly 11 pm when she was done restocking the last strengthener. By that time, she was too exhausted to sit on the pity pot she'd visited during supper. Hearing her name, she turned towards where her potions professor sat, still holding Draco's pale, limp hand.
"You are welcome to crash on my couch again. We'll likely need you to brew first thing in the morning. Hagrid is out procuring ingredients from Knockturn Alley, and will be back by dawn. I still don't want to leave him. I or Madame Pomfrey will call you through the floo with what we need tomorrow."
"What about my classes?"
"We'll give you credit for the assignments. Especially for my class."
"Okay, I'll sleep on your couch, then. I want to talk to you later about the Post Trauma Brew. I think it wears off too soon and leaves a serious depression."
"Okay. We'll hold off on any more testing until things calm down and we can work on tweaking it. Go get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay. Good night, sir."
"Good night, Hermione."
As the brunette curled up on the black couch with the Slytherin blanket, she realized that Professor Snape had said "we" about the new potion needing work. She fell asleep thinking that she'd enjoy working on it with him.