Antilitigation Charm:
All cannon characters, places, and concepts are the property of the divine J.K. Rowling.
I'm just borrowing them for a bit of a romp, and I promise to give them back when I'm done.
I'm not making any money off of this. Please don't sue me, because it really wouldn't be
worth your time.
FYI, Hermione is 18 in this story (time turners, late birthday, whatever); I am NOT into
lemons.
Once Upon A Dream
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Chpt. 2

At this time of night, the castle seemed almost to talk to itself in a language of creaks
and distant moans. Hermione carefully closed the library door behind her; although most
of the teachers would discretely ignore her late-night wanderings, it was best to avoid
drawing attention to it. A silencing charm on her shoes padded her footsteps.

Down the corridor, past the entrance to the great hall, Hermione walked swiftly, eager to
reach her bed as soon as possible. As she neared the main stairwell of the castle, she
began to realize that one of the distant groans of the castle was beginning to sound
not-so-distant. In fact, she realized as she put her hand on the banister, it definitely
had a source. Unfortunately, that source was located on the floor below, in the dungeons.
Professor Snape was notoriously unforgiving of students caught trespassing in his private
domain. The last one, a foolish sixth year from Hufflepuff, had ended up testing potions
for a senior potions seminar. His subsequent stay in the infirmary had lasted more than
a week. Hermione gulped.

Just then, the moaning took on the keening of an animal in pain.

'Shit!', Hermione scrambled down the stairs, her worry forgotten. The dungeon was filled
with a gloom that no student's spell could life; Professor Snape deliberately kept it that
way. Anxiously, Hermione scanned what she could see of the shadows, looking for an
injured student.

'Peeves', she hissed, 'If that's just you trying to get me in trouble..'

Just then, she saw it: the corner of a man's boot was sticking out just behind the horrible
statue of Betilde the Beastly that loomed at the foot of the staircase. As she came around
the statue, a crumpled form could just barely be seen in the light from the upper floors.
It was too large to be most of the students. The boots were covered in dirt, and the
figure smelled strongly of blood. Warily, Hermione held her wand before her, trying to
judge the situation.

Suddenly, the figure lurched, revealing gleaming eyes and a stained, white shirt. For a
moment, Hermione met the crazed eyes of Severus Snape. Then, he slumped back down on the
floor, out cold.
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