Chapter 12
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Characters not mine.
A/n: I know it's horrible of me to not have written for ages and now post a short chapter. And I can't even get a hold of my beta anymore. So mixed martini, if you're out there, please email me or something.
Here's the next chapter, please don't kill me for it's length.
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With that exact thought in mind, Severus Snape lay back and closed his eyes. It was always better when he didn't have to think about such complications as relationships and trust. Ironic, it was though – that the thing you could never trust was trust.
Too many years, he told himself in the black of his mind. Too many years of betrayal and hatred and false pretenses. And all for what? For whom? Certainly not himself. Albus, a whisper in the back of his mind said. All for Albus Dumbledore. All for the students. All for good over evil.
They knew nothing of good and evil.
How many times had he suffered under the wand of the Dark Lord? How many times had he put his life in danger? And for what? Albus, the voice said again, and a snarl graced the man's lips, though he knew not. He wished there would be another reason, noble and right as this one was, he wished…
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Twenty minutes later, Snape awoke to the harsh sound of a door slam. Sitting up, he noticed the door was the bathroom's, and that Hermione Granger was not in her bed. Then he heard the sound of retching.
Snape swore, fully awake and standing at the bathroom door in less than ten seconds.
"Poppy!" He yelled, and knocked on the door, somewhat relieved the sounds of sickness had stopped.
When there was no answer, he knocked again: "Miss Granger." There was the sound of running water, and by then Madame Pomfrey had appeared next to him. She too, knocked on the door, "Miss Granger? Are you alright?"
Another ten seconds more, and the door opened, a sickeningly pale faced Hermione Granger leaning on the doorframe: "Professor. Madame," She said, "I think something's wrong."
Severus repressed the urge to add: "Obviously," as Madame Pomfrey helped the girl back into bed. Conjuring a warm face towel, she laid it on the girl's forehead and quickly rushed to the medical storeroom.
"Severus?" Snape heard he call, "What about you? Are you feeling any queasiness, nausea?"
Snape refrained from rolling his eyes. "No Poppy. I can assure you I am not feeling 'queasy'."
"Well, then come in here. I need help with a potion."
Snape was immediately at her side. "What's wrong with Miss Granger?" Then he reproached himself. "What potion, I mean."
"I don't know what is wrong with Miss Granger yet. The potion I need is the Delaying Potion. The reversal to the Speed Intensifying one you took. We need her symptoms to slow down, so I can monitor them."
Snape nodded, reaching for a flask, and starting almost immediately. Madame Pomfrey nodded once, and went outside to check on Miss Granger.
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Severus Snape's thoughts were not on the potion he was brewing before him, though it wouldn't have made a difference. This particular potion he had brewed many times before, the method engrained in his mind. He had brewed it for many a student, colleague, even himself. Usually for educational purposes.
Usually.
Severus could not stop thinking about the girl who sat on the hospital bed about two meters away. Miss Hermione Granger, whose injuries and maladies could very easily be classified his own fault. Not that he had any time to take a guilt trip.
"Professor?" Hermione whispered, "What's next to the Heart string?"
Snape barely could stop himself rolling his eyes, and it proved impossible to avoid the sneer. The bloody girl was sick, perhaps even dangerously, and she still could not curb her thirst for knowledge.
He turned to his right to look at her, and he immediately softened. Hermione sat upright, though leading on the bed post, one hand she had pressed against the towel on her forehead, the other holding the blanket tightly around her waist. Her eyes, though, we fixed intently on the bubbling cauldron and the flasks beside it.
"I would've thought you'd had known, Miss Granger, you used it for last week's Crystallizing Potion. Snake Skin Juice"
Hermione blinked, surprised. But a second later, a weak smile graced her lips. "That's right. Of course Professor."
Much to Hermione's further surprise, Snape returned the smile, and proceeded to continue with the potion. He kept talking though.
"The Heart String is added directly after the Juice; otherwise the two don't react with each other. The timing has to be exact, a second difference could mean the main gas is released and lost."
"Main Gas?" Hermione breathed.
Snape glanced at her, then turned back to the potion. "Yes. The Potion is inhaled as a gas."
"How come we've never come across gas potions in class?"
"Gas Potions are rare. Besides, Miss Granger, I would've thought you would've realized that school, even Hogwarts, can only teach you the basics of magic. There are many more elements of potions than you can imagine."
Hermione nodded. "Thanks Professor, but I think I'll rest now." The last part was whispered, and Hermione had slowly laid herself back down and closed her eyes.
Snape breathed, realizing that instead of being the relieved he should have been at knowing he didn't have to explain every miniscule detail of the potion with Hermione Granger – instead of that, he was more afraid than anything.
Afraid of what?
Severus Snape dared not answer.
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Thanks to all reviewers. It's so wonderful.
