5. Promises and Punishment

At roughly ten thirty, Severus convinced himself to tear away from the work in his private lab, and head to his rooms.

When he pushed open the door, he sighed. It had started to become a habit for him now, especially in the evenings. It was just that, looking around at his 'home', there seemed to be nothing there for him. Back in the days of the Second War, it had been a refuge, somewhere for him to think and act freely without, most of the time, looking over his shoulder. Now, when he sat, drinking, reading or working, he could feel the room's loneliness impressed upon him and it was becoming routine for him to find some excuse to avoid it until he finally had to rest and start another day.

Feeling restless once again and unwilling to stay there, he dropped the book he had been carrying on his desk, took a moment to glance at the last, happily received but brief, letter Hermione had sent him and swept from the room.

Now, the cold winter night air was seeping into the draughty castle and Severus though he would never admitted to needing warmth, pulled the his raven coloured robes tighter around his body. He paused at one of the tall windows on the second floor of the castle. The faint mistiness of frost had already woven its path upon the thin panes of glass.

Severus watched the Dark Forest in the distance. As he observed, a gust of wind swept the treetops and slowly raindrops began to fall upon the leaves. At first it was the gentle drops that were moved by the gales, but soaked you most effectively but soon a heavy sheet of water was pelting the ground from the heavens. For once, he was glad he was inside the castle rather than outside. Hogwarts may well be draughty, he thought, but it always offered protection from the outside, in more ways than one.

As he peered for a last time out of the window, before striding off in a menacing fashion to hopefully terrify any students out of bed, he noticed a small figure making its way through the school gates. He was quite surprised, that whoever it was, wasn't running, or at least walking more quickly to get out of the ghastly weather.

In pure curiosity, and to perhaps gain the chance of a smirk at the rain-sodden figure that was bound to pass through the doors any minute, he walked down the corridor and descended the flight of stairs leading to the entrance hall, passing the Ravenclaw portrait hole as he went.

When a few minutes had passed, with no one entering the castle, Severus impatiently pulled open one of the doors. The person who he'd seen was not much further than they'd been the first time he'd seen them. When he looked closer, his eyes widened.

Hermione could feel the rain dripping down her face and through her drenched hair, but only vaguely. The thin sweater and jeans she was wearing were soaked, but she didn't know whether that was the reason she was feeling so numb or not. Reaching up to pull some wet hair out of her face, she froze.

Hermione. Severus only thought for a moment before taking quick steps out of the door and dashing down the puddle-strewn path to reach her. When he got to her, she stopped completely and looked straight at him. What he'd thought to be tears was just rain racing down her face from the roots of her hair, which was still draped over her face like a curtain.

"Hi," was all she said. Severus stared at her.

"What in Merlin's name are you doing out here?"

Realising there was no point in expecting her to explain in the rain, he quickly pulled her up the path and through the doors, which gave a bang as they closed, to rival the thunder that had just started up outside

In silence, he guided her down the steps that led to the dungeons and into his rooms, one hand constantly on her back; the expression on her face made him rather think that she would stop completely if he hadn't.

When they reached his rooms, he made her sit down. She was still, hands clenched tightly in her lap, unresponsive.

"Hermione," he spoke her name quietly. She appeared to hear him, but did not rouse her head, which was still shrouded by her dark hair.

"Why are you here?"

Then she looked up at him. "You made me promise to tell you." Slowly, she moved aside her chestnut hair.

He let out an odd cross between a cry of indignation and a hollow sigh when he saw the telltale purple shadow developing around her eye.

"He hit you."

She nodded. There was no need to say who 'he' was. Gently, he put one hand to her face where the silhouette marking lingered. She winced slightly but didn't move away.

"You ran away?"

"I Stunned him," Was that a glint of guilt he could see in her eyes? "I just ran…Apparated here, to Hogsmeade." She let out a small sob, and then stifled it with her hand.

"Here," he said handing her a box of tissues. "Look, you might as well use the bathroom and get your clothes dry while you're in there," he continued, somewhat gruffly. She nodded, silently and he led her over to his bathroom.

"There's towels and wash cloths in that cupboard," he told her, pointing. He showed her a small hamper next to the voluminous marble tiled bath. "If you put your clothes in there, a house elf will return them for you to wear when you are finished in the bathroom."

"Thank you," she said softly, before closing the door behind him. Slowly, Hermione stripped off the sopping clothes that had become somewhat stuck to her and dropped them into the hamper. She turned on one of the taps and hot water came gushing out. When it was full, she stepped in, deciding not to add any scent or bubbles to the water as she would have done usually, just preferring to sink into it's warm depths.

Tentatively, she brought one hand up to the bruise on her face. A dull ache had begun there, making her grimace when she touched it. She thought she'd be used to it now, but the fact that he'd struck her in the face was different. A yellowing bruise on her leg, or staining, but temporary, red mark on her upper arm were easily disguised and could be forgotten about. But even if she covered herself up with make-up, or a glamour spell, she doubted it would take away the feeling of sheer bareness she would feel.

Trying to put it out of her mind, at least for a while, she sank back and exhaled, closing her eyes.

Severus paced back and forward. Hermione had been in the bathroom for an hour. He knew she needed time to calm down, to be by herself, but he still felt concerned. Was it wise to leave her alone there? Suddenly stricken, he knocked on the door cautiously.

"Hermione?"

He heard a sniff from inside and then the door swung open. Hermione was dressed in her, now dry, previous outfit with a black coat as an addition. She looked unnervingly calm, and if there had been no purple mark still adorning her face, he would have thought nothing had happened to her.

"I hope you don't mind," she said. "I Transfigured one of your towels into a coat. I'll change it back later."

"Why do you need a coat?" he asked, frowning. "Surely, you're not-" he broke off as she avoided his gaze. "You're not going back!"

"I have to," she said trying to push past him. He easily blocked her.

"You can't possibly have a reason for going back there, at least, not tonight."

"I need to get my things and I have to get Crookshanks. Besides, I'll need to get my money so I can pay for a room in Hogsmeade tonight."

"Don't be ridiculous," he replied, but his voice wasn't sharp. "You can stay here tonight and everything else can wait till morning."

She opened her mouth to answer in protest, but then sneezed, quickly reaching for a tissue from the box on his desk.

He raised an eyebrow. "You're obviously not at your best either. Not after wandering all the way through Hogsmeade in that weather."

She stared back at him, resolutely. Severus could see that she was determined to go. He sighed through his teeth.

"Fine," he said, submissively. "But I'm coming with you."

When they Apparated at Hermione's apartment building, it was past midnight. They were wordless as he followed her up the stairs. When they came close to her door, he went in front of her, remembering what she had said about Stupefying him and swung the door open.

He looked all around the apartment, and went into the various rooms she had.

"He isn't here now," he said quietly. "Get what you wanted, and let's go."

Hermione nodded and went into her bedroom.

A few minutes later, she emerged, carrying a tiny suitcase, no bigger than her usual handbag, in one hand, and an owl cage. Crookshanks was perched on her shoulder, looking rather disgruntled at being woken. Putting the cage down for a minute, she bent to get the files and papers from the coffee table in living room. Severus picked up the owl cage to make it easier for her. She gave a slight smile of thanks. Severus realised his mistake in leaving the door unwatched when a cold voice cut across them.

"Back so soon, 'Mione?" Severus's lip curled at the nickname. "And you brought your…'friend'."

"Believe me, I'm not staying," said Hermione, willing her voice to be strong, but it sounded weak even to her.

Jeremy laughed. "That's what you said before, remember? Then you realised that your project was going to go to hell without my funding backing you up, and you weren't so eager to drop me, were you? However…the tables turned a bit didn't they?"

He smirked at Severus. "You can have her when I'm done with her, of course, but be sure that even if she goes with you tonight, she'll wake up in the morning and come crawling back to me, exactly like the-"

But they never got to hear exactly what Jeremy thought Hermione was. Severus got there first. There was a clatter as the owl cage fell to the floor, a sickening thud and a cracking noise, and the next thing Hermione knew, Jeremy was lying on the floor, clearly unconscious with a trail of blood visible from his nose, which was now obviously badly broken.

Severus was standing over him, with the same blood on the knuckles of his right hand. He was holding his injured hand to him, with a vicious look on his face.

The two conscious people in the room simply looked at each other for a moment.

Severus interrupted the quiet. "Get your things and we can go." He strode out of the door. He was shaking slightly, shocked at the outburst of fury that had flown from his right hand into Jeremy's face but also with a sense of grim satisfaction.

Hermione, left alone, looked at Jeremy's still body for the second time that night. Hastening to leave the apartment, she picked up all of her things and followed Severus.

When they returned to Hogwarts, Severus didn't seem as anxious to enquire about what had possessed Hermione to stay with Jeremy for so long. She was taken aback, given what the bastard had said about her, in his presence. He was dourly quiet and left her sitting in his rooms while he disappeared for a while.

When he returned, Hermione was curled up in a chair in a foetal position, with her arms wrapped around her knees.

Studying her for a moment, still silent, his face unyielding, he crossed to the chest that was placed at the end of his bed, and returned to his living room with a thick, green blanket. He draped it over her and then sunk in the opposite chair himself to think.

Unable to sleep, he rose, and with one look at Hermione on his way out, he left his rooms and the dungeons behind and walked the way, soundlessly, to the Headmaster's office.

A/N: I had one of those 'must write fanfiction or all will be lost buzzes' this afternoon, and this is the result of it. I've been able to read some reviews from the chapter I posted this morning, but not all of them. So if I miss you here, I'll mention you next chapter. Please review if you enjoy this instalment!

KDarkMaiden, CrazySwimmer27, RunningPadfooot, Anarane Anwamane.

HarryPotterFreak1234- Severus is a bit of a different person here. I think he's a bit confused about where his feelings lie at the moment. About treating Hermione differently, he has a different attitude towards her for several reasons- she's an adult now, she's well respected in the 'potions' world, they're on the same wavelength (notice him agreeing with her about the lycanthropy treatment) and he's concerned about her relationship with Jeremy-he's been down the road of self-destruction before-he doesn't want to see anyone else beaten down that way. You'll notice now that what's he's done to Jeremy affects him too. Oh, and I think you'll get what you were looking for in this chapter. Thank you for your review!

Evanescence- Thank you for your lovely long review! The reason for Hermione staying with him is given in this chapter…briefly. I will delve further into this.

Casiana Joy- Is this soon enough..? Thanks for the review!