Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of this story or the settings or the names or the squid or the general mood o.o okay, i own the mood, and the plot and the choice of words and the blah blah blah. you get my point.
By the way, don't think it's weird that I keep reverting from 'Severus' to 'Snape'. I change it depending on the mood of the current situation. like below ^_^ *points arrow down* NO, not down there, down there! *goes away*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione sat up in bed. It'd been two days since Harry had told her about his 'plans' and she hadn't heard anything from him about the subject since ...And... two days since she'd been practically interrogated by Snape.
Whatever the case, she realized that she couldn't go back to sleep now. She was a light sleeper and waking up once kept her awake. Seeing there was no point in staying in bed, she quietly got up, keeping in mind not to wake up the ball of fluff next to her head. Dumbledore had awarded the top student from each house a private, seperate room from the rest of his classmates. This left Hermione the choice of doing whatever she wanted as long as it was confined to her own rooms, and of course, not to bother her cat.
She took a long and refreshing shower and used a quick-dry spell on her hair before it got frizzy and unmanageable. Hermioine looked at the clock and it read 3:00 am, it was still dark outside. She changed into dark yet casual clothes so she would be harder to spot if Filch or his cat were prowling about. looking at the mirror, she deemed herself fit to sneak about the castle for her own amusement.
She left her room, quietly closing the door and sneaking down the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. As she expected, there was nobody there. With this, she went through the portrait hole and ventured the long corridors to find the entrance of the castle. She had no idea what led her to come in this direction, but on impulse, she left the confines of the castle walls and set off towards the lake.
The moonlight was glistening off the surface of the lake, leaving a beautiful yet eery blue color in her surroundings. Off to the left was the forbidden forest, mysterious and dangerous things lived there. No, she did not want to go there. Hermione sat by the lake, leaning against a tree for support. For a long time, all she did was watch the lake, it left her in a trance and for once, her mind was blank and she didn't feel the need to think.
~~~~~
"Ms. Granger." Severus leaned against the tree next to her.
The sun was barely coming up, and the cold still prevailed despite the few tiny rays of sunlight escaping the overhanging clouds.
She blinked her eyes open, and realized that she'd fallen asleep against the tree. In her sleepiness, she didn't realize who was next to her, only that she was waking up from a comfortable rest.
She yawned "What time is it?"
Taken aback by her casual attitude, he didn't check his watch. He only stared at her, yawning and stretching in attempts to wake herself.
"Good morning, Elena"
She was startled by his words. Not only had she thought it was Harry or Ron talking to her, she certainly hadn't expected to be called Elena. After a short pause, she responded.
"Good morning Severus" And she peered over at him, wondering if that was the proper response.
"You always loved this spot, these flowers do grow best in the summer." he stated with a complacent look on his face.
Seeing as how they were in front of a lake and not a bed of flowers, Hermione was quite shocked to realize that Severus was holding her by the hand, leading her into his so called 'flower bed'. Before she could scream though, she collected her thoughts and stated in a strong voice.
"No, Severus, I do not wish to touch the flowers today."
He dropped her hand and said, "You were always going on about the flowers...they're right there. It is not a long walk."
She put much thought into her next words "I..I wish to go home." She used short, to the point sentences so as not to deviate from what Severus expected to hear from his mother. 'Better to say less than miss the mark completely.'
He stared at her, distraught at her words. "I'm sorry, Elena... It's been my wish to return home for years, but you know you can't return... I'll stay with you forever."
She was completely confused as to what to say next, all she could muster was a small "thank you..."
With that, he hugged her, as if fearing to let go. "We have to figure out...a way...to keep you safe from Him, Elena. He'll take you away from me, He'll steal you"
With Severus, this particular chain of thoughts brought 'sanity', and he found himself standing next to a lake, hugging Hermione Granger desperately. Immedietely, he let go and gave her a horrified look. She looked to her toes, embarassed by his sudden change in attitude.
"What are we doing out here?" asked a very confused Severus.
Instead of answering his question, she decided to conduct an experiment on his mind.
"They're beautiful, the flowers, aren't they? Let's go touch them." She tried to lure memories from him, of her encounter with his hidden self. She pulled him by the hand to the water, slowly dragging him across the short stretch of grass to the edge of the lake.
But he didn't react as she had hoped.
"Ms. Granger! Do you plan on drowning the both of us?"
She stifled a giggle.
"Was I...Different?" He inquired, at a loss for what to describe himself as once he switched memories.
She made a small nod. "Can...Can you remember anything?"
He shook his head slightly, and it came to him that he was standing in very close proximity to a student in the wee hours of the morning. This was certainly not proper, and panic brought him to say things a bit more sharply than he'd intended.
"Ms. Granger, 15 points from Gryffindor, and every second you stall here will cost you another 5. Go to your common room, and I will speak to Dumbledore of the..incident..in the afternoon." He ended coldly, daring her to question his authority.
She didn't.
She made her way back to her dorm and slept again, missing breakfast, and after she showered and dressed, 20 minutes of Potions. 'Oh....shit' she thought lamely, and headed down into the dungeons to face the wrath of the potions master.
~~~~~~~~~~
tbc, sorry the chapter's sorta short, even shorter than the other ones *cough* yeah. It might still be confusing, but the story is beautiful in my head, getting it down on paper is the problem o.o. I've decided, i'm going to be a psychologist or a psychiatrist just to see if my theories were correct! lol. Well, see y'all later, it's only seven, but I need a nap. g'night, everybody!
-kiki
By the way, don't think it's weird that I keep reverting from 'Severus' to 'Snape'. I change it depending on the mood of the current situation. like below ^_^ *points arrow down* NO, not down there, down there! *goes away*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione sat up in bed. It'd been two days since Harry had told her about his 'plans' and she hadn't heard anything from him about the subject since ...And... two days since she'd been practically interrogated by Snape.
Whatever the case, she realized that she couldn't go back to sleep now. She was a light sleeper and waking up once kept her awake. Seeing there was no point in staying in bed, she quietly got up, keeping in mind not to wake up the ball of fluff next to her head. Dumbledore had awarded the top student from each house a private, seperate room from the rest of his classmates. This left Hermione the choice of doing whatever she wanted as long as it was confined to her own rooms, and of course, not to bother her cat.
She took a long and refreshing shower and used a quick-dry spell on her hair before it got frizzy and unmanageable. Hermioine looked at the clock and it read 3:00 am, it was still dark outside. She changed into dark yet casual clothes so she would be harder to spot if Filch or his cat were prowling about. looking at the mirror, she deemed herself fit to sneak about the castle for her own amusement.
She left her room, quietly closing the door and sneaking down the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. As she expected, there was nobody there. With this, she went through the portrait hole and ventured the long corridors to find the entrance of the castle. She had no idea what led her to come in this direction, but on impulse, she left the confines of the castle walls and set off towards the lake.
The moonlight was glistening off the surface of the lake, leaving a beautiful yet eery blue color in her surroundings. Off to the left was the forbidden forest, mysterious and dangerous things lived there. No, she did not want to go there. Hermione sat by the lake, leaning against a tree for support. For a long time, all she did was watch the lake, it left her in a trance and for once, her mind was blank and she didn't feel the need to think.
~~~~~
"Ms. Granger." Severus leaned against the tree next to her.
The sun was barely coming up, and the cold still prevailed despite the few tiny rays of sunlight escaping the overhanging clouds.
She blinked her eyes open, and realized that she'd fallen asleep against the tree. In her sleepiness, she didn't realize who was next to her, only that she was waking up from a comfortable rest.
She yawned "What time is it?"
Taken aback by her casual attitude, he didn't check his watch. He only stared at her, yawning and stretching in attempts to wake herself.
"Good morning, Elena"
She was startled by his words. Not only had she thought it was Harry or Ron talking to her, she certainly hadn't expected to be called Elena. After a short pause, she responded.
"Good morning Severus" And she peered over at him, wondering if that was the proper response.
"You always loved this spot, these flowers do grow best in the summer." he stated with a complacent look on his face.
Seeing as how they were in front of a lake and not a bed of flowers, Hermione was quite shocked to realize that Severus was holding her by the hand, leading her into his so called 'flower bed'. Before she could scream though, she collected her thoughts and stated in a strong voice.
"No, Severus, I do not wish to touch the flowers today."
He dropped her hand and said, "You were always going on about the flowers...they're right there. It is not a long walk."
She put much thought into her next words "I..I wish to go home." She used short, to the point sentences so as not to deviate from what Severus expected to hear from his mother. 'Better to say less than miss the mark completely.'
He stared at her, distraught at her words. "I'm sorry, Elena... It's been my wish to return home for years, but you know you can't return... I'll stay with you forever."
She was completely confused as to what to say next, all she could muster was a small "thank you..."
With that, he hugged her, as if fearing to let go. "We have to figure out...a way...to keep you safe from Him, Elena. He'll take you away from me, He'll steal you"
With Severus, this particular chain of thoughts brought 'sanity', and he found himself standing next to a lake, hugging Hermione Granger desperately. Immedietely, he let go and gave her a horrified look. She looked to her toes, embarassed by his sudden change in attitude.
"What are we doing out here?" asked a very confused Severus.
Instead of answering his question, she decided to conduct an experiment on his mind.
"They're beautiful, the flowers, aren't they? Let's go touch them." She tried to lure memories from him, of her encounter with his hidden self. She pulled him by the hand to the water, slowly dragging him across the short stretch of grass to the edge of the lake.
But he didn't react as she had hoped.
"Ms. Granger! Do you plan on drowning the both of us?"
She stifled a giggle.
"Was I...Different?" He inquired, at a loss for what to describe himself as once he switched memories.
She made a small nod. "Can...Can you remember anything?"
He shook his head slightly, and it came to him that he was standing in very close proximity to a student in the wee hours of the morning. This was certainly not proper, and panic brought him to say things a bit more sharply than he'd intended.
"Ms. Granger, 15 points from Gryffindor, and every second you stall here will cost you another 5. Go to your common room, and I will speak to Dumbledore of the..incident..in the afternoon." He ended coldly, daring her to question his authority.
She didn't.
She made her way back to her dorm and slept again, missing breakfast, and after she showered and dressed, 20 minutes of Potions. 'Oh....shit' she thought lamely, and headed down into the dungeons to face the wrath of the potions master.
~~~~~~~~~~
tbc, sorry the chapter's sorta short, even shorter than the other ones *cough* yeah. It might still be confusing, but the story is beautiful in my head, getting it down on paper is the problem o.o. I've decided, i'm going to be a psychologist or a psychiatrist just to see if my theories were correct! lol. Well, see y'all later, it's only seven, but I need a nap. g'night, everybody!
-kiki