A/N: Ohhhh, a flame....well, it could only be expected. Patience, Moria Polonius! I had taken your comments into considerating before reading them, and this chapter is the result.
Hmmmmm, staying in character is getting a little difficult, please bear with me until I can sort my twisted ideas out :)

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Chapter 4 - Confrontations

Professor Celia Neffler stood in the doorway to the hospital wing, silently observing the sullen figure sitting by the bed. Professor Snape felt the gaze, and rose to face the watcher. "What now," he asked, irritably.

Without his back to her, Professor Neffler could see that in the last two days he had eaten little and slept less. His recent behaviour confused her; it was not his usual manner to be overly concerned about the welfare of a student, least of all a Gryffindor. "Perhaps you should get some rest, Professor. She might not wake for days yet." She might not wake at all, said a small, bitter voice in her head.

As Dumbledore appeared behind her, Snape bit back an angry comment on her right to complain about his well-being. "When she wakes, would you please inform Miss Granger that she is to see me in my office as soon as possible," he said instead, his icy tone directed at the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. He acknowledged Dumbledore with a small nod, and left the room.

The headmaster pulled up a second chair and positioned it alongside the first, which Professor Neffler gratefully sank into.

"She will be alright, Celia," he said gently.

"Why is she still asleep? It's been over two days." Her voice was now weary, and the dark rings under her eyes were evidence of her own sleepless nights.

"She is in a coma. You have not seen a comatose person before?" Neffler shook her head, and Dumbledore continued. "In most cases, a coma is induced by grievious physical injuries, but I believe that this," he indicated the prone figure on the bed, "is Hermione's mind's way of dealing with her emotional turmoil, so to speak."

"But she will be alright?"

"She will need your help, Celia. It was good of you to take her under your wing after the unfortunate events of last year, and I know how fond you are of her, but you must understand that you can never take her parents place. Do not try to. Comfort her as a friend, not an adult. She will respect you for it."

Professor Neffler looked up from the Hermione's unmoving form to Dumbledore, her level gaze denoting the silent gratitude in her tear-bright eyes. The headmaster smiled, and patted her arm, then moved toward the door.

"Before you go, Professor?" she said.

"I take it your question concerns Professor Snape?"

"Well, yes. Why is he so worried about Hermione? It's just not like him."

"You would have to ask him to be sure, but it is my belief that Severus considers himself partly to blame for Hermione's recent actions. Perhaps he is. Only time will tell. Now I must leave you, I received an owl from the Ministry this morning, and I have matters to attend to." His brow furrowed."Ah, yes, that reminds me. The message concerns you, also, but this is not the time nor place to discuss it. If you could visit my office sometime in the near future, perhaps I could enlighten you somewhat."

Professor Neffler blinked. She could have sworn she saw a flicker of - triumph? mixed with anger pass across Dumbledore's face, something she had not seen for a fortunately long time. However, turning back to Hermione, she had more important things to dwell on, and forgot it for the time.

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Snape sighed in contentment as he marked the last of the fourth-year essays with a large, flowing F. A small knock on the door startled him, and he put his quill aside. "Come in," he said, leisurely.

It was the girl. Granger. He didn't know just who he had expected, but it certainly wasn't her. Curse her timing! For three days she had been on his mind, and just when he had forced all thoughts of her from his already-cluttered head, here she was, in his office. He straightened.

"Professor Neffler sent me, sir," she said, in a bored tone.

"I am glad to see you on your feet, Miss Granger. You have missed a lot of work. But that is not what I wanted to talk to you about. Please, sit," he said, summoning a chair. She looked at him, then at the chair, and remained standing. His eyes narrowed, and his voice lost its almost pleasant demeanor. "I told you to sit, Miss Granger," he repeated, his tone now dangerously soft.

Reluctantly, she obliged, still not meeting his gaze. "I thought you had more sense than to attempt what you did. That was a very stupid thing to do," he remarked. The girl did not reply, averting her eyes. "Look at me," he said, suddenly. She did not move. "Look at me!" the Potions master demanded. This time Hermione did react, staring up at him with a defiant glare. Severus Snape knew that look, and it worried him. She was, after all, his student. "You would do it again, wouldn't you?" The remark was softly made, causing the mask of relative indifference to fall from her face. He smiled inwardly.

"Yes, I would," she snarled, her otherwise pretty fase twisted into a sneer that impressed the Head of Slytherin. "I would have managed it the first time if you," The word was filled with loathing, "had not interfered!"

Snape was now genuinly concerned. "I will have to notify Professor Dumbledore of your intentions, you realise," he said, to all appearances quite casually. "You may go now." Hermione stood, rather abruptly, and walked out of the room without so much as a backward glance.

Snape could not help but stare after her in amazement. Surely this was not the same Hermione Granger that had first walked into his classroom? She was the last person at Hogwarts he had thought would attempt suicide. And she would have, he had no doubt about that.

He shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts. What had a happened to Hermione Granger, that she should fall so far? Oh, he knew about the untimely deaths of her parents, how could he not? He gently rubbed the skin of his forearm where the Dark Mark used to reside.

But that could not be all. Brutal as it sounded, the intelligent Gryffindor know-it-all should have eventually gotten over it, and gone on to make something of her life. Something else had happened, and he was determined to find out what. Now he was intrigued.