Author's Note: This is my first real fic (ie. I actually plan to complete it) and I really hope you all like it. Disclaimer – none of the characters or setting belong to me – only the plot is mine. Please review and feel free to email me with any comments. Thanks – enjoy!
The woman trudged determinedly along the dirty, sodden path. All around her trees creaked menacingly and the wind whistled, catching her long brown curls and ripping them from their loose binding. Carrying a simple holdall in one hand, she clutched her wand tightly in the other, her fingers curled around the cool wood. Glancing up at the stormy sky, the young woman sighed as the unrelenting rain slapped her face.
The sudden flash of a lightening streak lit up the gloomy sky, and for a brief moment she had a clear view of her childhood home. The huge stone building of Hogwarts looked much the same as it always had; a few small windows were lit up with the glow of candles. The castle was mostly in darkness – the students would be in bed at this hour, and the only people around the hallways would be the Professors and resident ghosts. Looking ahead, she could see the dark, murky shape of the Forbidden Forest looming. Pulling her cloak tighter around her frame, she bowed her head from the force of the gale and strode determinedly on.
As she entered the dense thicket of trees, darkness surrounded her completely.
"Lumos," she muttered under her breath, and her wand cast a dim light on the dusty path ahead of her. Within the cramped, closely packed forest, the woman was shielded from the wind and rain, which merely emphasised the eerie creaking of the trees surrounding her. Shadows danced across the beam of light radiating form her wand and she squinted into the darkness, trying to discern the pattern of trees. Stumbling slightly over tree roots, her gasps penetrated the consuming silence around her.
A sudden high pitched wailing in the trees above her made the woman snap her head up to peer uncertainly into the darkness. As she did so, her feet caught on a large patch of brambles, and she lurched forward onto the mud. Her hands scrabbled for purchase on the damp ground as her wand and case flew out of her grip. The light on the path extinguished itself abruptly. A sharp stick struck her across the face as she hit the ground and the woman gasped as she felt the warm blood drip down her cheek. She scrambled desperately on the floor, finally managing to pull herself up to her feet. The shrieking suddenly started again, louder and at closer proximity. Spinning on her heel, the woman gazed in fear as the scream was followed by a horrible swooping noise and the dull thump of a body landing on the ground.
Backing away slowly, the woman bent quickly and scrabbled in the leaves of the forest floor for her wand. Her breathing sped up as she heard a low snuffling and grunting noise, and her clammy fingers closed around one, snapped and splintered end of her wand. Dropping the remnants, she stumbled blindly back as the noises grew closer still. The blood was pounding in her ears and all she could hear was her rough breathing and the ever increasing growls. As they reached a fevered pitch, the woman's eyes widened in horror as two piercing red eyes immersed out of the encompassing darkness. Her mouth opened in a silent scream and she turned on her heel and ran, streaking through the trees.
Branches hit her face and body, ripping her robes and tearing the tender skin of her cheeks and neck. The storm suddenly seemed to be raging throughout the forest – the wind whipped her hair back from her bloody face and chaffed her frozen cheeks, whilst the biting cold burned the bare skin of her face and hands. The rain suddenly seemed to be pelting down on her weakening body without resistance. Her breath was coming in gasps pants as her feet pounded on the ground in deafening thuds. The petrifying noises continued at an ever increasing pace.
Suddenly, the grunts and growls ceased unexpectedly and there was a moment of sheer silence as she raced, distraught through the forest. The brief stillness didn't last long – it was soon replaced by the horrific screeching, closely followed by the ghastly swooping noise heard before. The woman screamed in agony and terror as she was knocked to the ground by a sudden, immense weight on top of her.
Her face pressed into the mud, and for a moment, she couldn't breathe – in the panic of the fall she had bitten down on her lip and tongue and now the coppery taste of her own blood filled her abused senses. She was suddenly flung onto her back with terrifying force, and the last thing she remembered before she passed out cold was the sight of a huge, bat-like creature descending onto her, before the pain of the being's teeth sinking into her soft flesh turned her vision black.
Severus Snape's head jerked up suddenly from his back-breaking task as he heard the high pitched scream resonate throughout the trees of the Forbidden Forest. His eyes narrowed suspiciously as he stood up straight, dusting the mud form the leafy floor off his usually immaculate black robes. He had been collecting moonflower for his latest potions research experiment. It was detrimental to the success of the potion that these ingredients were added on the morrow, and moonflower could only be collected on the hour between midnight and one o'clock on the night of a full moon. He knew full well many creatures residing within the forest would emulate human screams so as to lure heroic travellers to their aid – which would of course turn out to be their death. He snorted. No one in their right mind would want him to act the hero for them.
This moment of indecision was ended by the sound of another, more anguished scream. Leaving his equipment next to the moonflower plant, he quickly picked up his wand, which was currently casting Lumos over the surrounding area. Wrapping his voluminous robes a little tighter around his body, he strode forward along the path in the direction of the screams, his wand held purposefully and protectively in front of him, casting eerie shadows on the patchy ground.
On his many ventures into the forest, Severus had encountered many creatures, including the centaurs, who often guided him to hidden plants he couldn't readily find himself. However, as he neared the centre of the forest and heard the high keening noise, his black eyes suddenly widened slightly in comprehension. Breaking into a run, he skidded to a halt as he surveyed the creature ripping into the flesh of a body. Brandishing his wand, he yelled,
"Experiliarmus!" The creature was flung backwards with a burst of shocking white light from the end of his wand. It shrieked again in pain as it collided with the dense trees, before sweeping into the trees above and away, grunting and snuffling as it went. Severus hurried towards the prone body in a few brisk strides and knelt on the mucky floor next to it.
He quickly discerned the small figure was a woman. Her robes and cloak were ripped beyond repair, exposing parts of her red, raw, bleeding flesh. Her blood clotted hair was strewn across her face haphazardly. Severus gently eased the strands away from the deep cuts on her features and barely concealed a gasp of recognition of her face. The soft facial features of her youth could hardly be seen – scratches, cuts, bruises and smears of dirt covered her wind burnt face. Her eyes were closed, the skin ripped deeply just above her right eye, the blood flowing freely down her face.
Quickly ending his inspection of her, Severus lowered his head to check she was still breathing the muggle way. Yes – he could feel her shallow breath on his cold cheek. He rapidly shrugged off his cloak and wrapped it around her now shaking body. Despite her state of unconsciousness, she seemed to be suffering the effects of shock.
Severus quickly cast Mobilcorpus on the woman's body, but this proved to be impossible, as he couldn't see where he was going in the darkness, and he didn't want either of them to end up with a broken nose from colliding with a tree. Lowering her to the ground and releasing the spell, he cast Lumos instead and gingerly picked her up in his arms. Suppressing the urge to shudder at the contact of her body against his, he attempted to balance her head on his shoulder, but it kept lolling backwards. His body was unused to the dead weight of an unconscious body, and his back was soon screaming in agony.
As he moved them through the forest, her body began wriggling in his grip, her head tossing from one side to the other. She started murmuring incomprehensible words under her breath, struggling to escape from his arms. Suddenly, she stilled completely for a moment, and then reared up in his arms and released the bodily fluids from her stomach all over the front of his robes. He stopped and closed his eyes briefly in disgust as she relaxed back into his arms and rested her head on his shoulder.
Once the pair were out of the Forbidden Forest, leaving its dangers behind, Severus crossed the distance to the castle entrance rapidly. Slipping quickly through the heavy wooden door, he tucked his wand into a pocket and clutched his baggage a little tighter. He swept silently through the deserted corridors of the school, keeping to the shadows to protect his dignity. He headed straight for the Hospital Wing, knowing Madame Pomfrey would heal the girl without asking too many questions. Covering the distance to the wing with alarming speed for a forty something carrying a fully grown woman, Severus rapped sharply on the door of the ward. When no reply came, he rapped again and hissed in an irritated tone;
"Poppy!"
"Severus?" Came the eventual reply as the school's Mediwitch heaved open the bolt on the heavy door and peered through the crack with bleary eyes. Severus pushed past her wordlessly, releasing his burden on the nearest bed.
"Floo the Headmaster," he commanded her, going to a cupboard nearby to fetch the potions, salves and equipment she would require to heal the woman. "Now!" He demanded when he turned and saw her moving concernedly towards the prone figure on the bed, keen to help. She nodded primly and went to the fireplace in her office to do so.
Having laid out the equipment on a table next to her bed, Severus finally relented to the burning ache in his back and collapsed into a chair next to the woman. Pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly, he sighed. He had a throbbing headache coming on and he could almost feel his latest potion getting ruined in the dungeons. Poppy returned to the room, an apron secured around her waist.
"He's on his way," she told him distractedly as she quickly made use of the potions he had set out for her. After watching her work briefly, Severus got up and strode to the small window adjacent to the bed and peered out onto the grounds. He could see the vague outline of the forest since the storm had died down somewhat. There had been no questions yet, but they would come. His head lifted as he heard the door of the Infirmary click open. Dumbledore entered the room softly and Severus could sense the concern in his face without even turning around.
"Severus, my boy, what is it?" Severus frowned and rolled his eyes at the endearment and pressed a pale hand against his aching eyes for a moment. He then spun on his heel and fixed the Headmaster with a brusque stare, trying to convey as little emotion as was possible in his voice.
"It's Hermione Granger."
Hermione tossed and turned in her small hospital bed. In the high backed chair next to it, Severus surveyed her calmly, his fingers steeped thoughtfully in front of his face, elbows resting on his spread knees. Over the past few hours Poppy had healed all the wounds on her face quickly without leaving any scars. He could now see her familiar features clearly, and they brought back memories he had long wanted to forget of that Potter idiot. The deep cuts from the creature's teeth and claws had proved to be more difficult. The poison had to be removed carefully from the open wounds before they could be closed and healed. The scars left behind by the delicate operation wouldn't fade for a few weeks – a salve created by Severus himself would have to be applied twice daily. She had a raging fever, which was a side effect of the small amount of poison that had entered her bloodstream. She was still murmuring frenziedly under her breath and thrashing on the bed as shafts of light began permeating through the windows of the Infirmary, casting stripes of warmth on the cold stone floor.
Severus sighed and sat back in his chair, allowing himself to relax slightly. Dumbledore had reacted exactly how Severus had known he would. Keen to welcome the ex-Head Girl back to Hogwarts he had quickly left to inform the girl's old Head of House, Minerva McGonagall, who would undoubtedly fuss over her needlessly and bother him non-stop with ridiculously futile questions regarding the incident. He rolled his eyes aggregately merely at the thought. His head snapped up sharply as the muffled noises from the bed increased.
"Charlie! No, Charlie, why did you do it? Why Charlie, why? Why, why, why? Charlie! Charlie…" She cried, descending into sobs as her head tossed fitfully on the pillow. Severus' eyes narrowed in suspicion as he regarded her feverish body. Charlie? Who the hell was Charlie?
His inquisitive thoughts were interrupted as the heavy door of the Infirmary swung open, Dumbledore and Minerva entering the room silently. Severus remained in his chair, a solitary straight-backed figure, bathed in the morning light, yet emaciating a cold and foreboding air. The professors approached him from behind and Dumbledore laid a fatherly hand on his shoulder as Minerva moved to Hermione's side.
"How is she, Severus?" Minerva questioned him distractedly, laying a calming hand on the younger woman's burning forehead. "Hasn't she been given anything for this fever?" She asked sharply as Hermione lurched up momentarily into the cool touch.
"I would have thought her state of being was more than obvious from her distinct lack of consciousness or restraint," he replied disdainfully as she flung herself across the bed again, her arm coming to rest near his black clothed knee. His upper lip curled and he pointedly shifted his leg. Minerva shot him a disapproving glare, but merely pursed her lips and said nothing.
"Rest assured her wounds seem remarkably improved to me Minerva, and the temperature will not go down until all the poison had worked its way out of her body," came the calm voice of Dumbledore from behind Severus. Minerva nodded and pulled up a chair opposite him.
"So, do regale us with the tale of your heroic rescue, Severus."
He snorted.
"Hardly," he replied shortly. "I simply happened to come across her whilst in the forest." Minerva arched an eyebrow.
"Really? Come now, Severus, it's not like you to be so modest."
Severus' sarcastic reply was cut off sharply by the sound of intense coughing from the bed between them. Severus and Minerva leant over Hermione's still body as her eyes opened, blinking blearily in the early morning light.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, Miss Granger," Severus stated softly, his face looming over her. She squinted at him in confusion through blurred vision, before saying,
"Harry?"
Severus' mouth formed a hard, tight line.
Hermione lay in the small hospital bed, propped up by a few plump pillows. Her hands were folded demurely in her lap as a blush formed on her cheeks as she remembered the events of the last few minutes. When she had awoken, her mind had felt so fogged and her eyes didn't seem to be working correctly as all she could see were blurred black hair and eyes. After announcing the first name that came to mind, she had struggled upwards and realised with horror who it was.
"P-Professor Snape?" She had stuttered incredulously as all the years of his Potions classes came flooding into her mind. She admonished herself for being so pathetic – she was no longer a silly little schoolgirl. No, she was a fully grown woman and he couldn't dominate her anymore.
"Indeed," he had replied, his black eyes piercing her with their cold stare. She looked up now. The professors had formed a small group a little way away from the bed where they were making quiet conversation.
"Miss Granger?" Hermione looked up to see her three former teachers standing at the end of her bed, Snape pointedly avoiding her eyes. He seemed to be very interested in a spot on the stone wall somewhere above her head.
"Please call me Hermione," she replied, smiling at the familiar faces. Severus scowled back.
"Of course, Hermione," Minerva said as she came and sat next to her. All three looked expectantly at her. She cleared her throat awkwardly.
"So, err, what happened?" She asked.
"I'm afraid Severus is the only one who can answer that for us." Hermione frowned at the dark caped figure who glanced angrily at the Headmaster.
"Well then, Professor," she said. "I would appreciate if you told me exactly what happened."
"Naturally, Miss Granger," he muttered as he sat in the chair next to her bed. He steeped his fingers in front of his face and slipped into lecture mode. "I was collecting potions ingredients in the Forbidden Forest when I became aware of a woman screaming. After a short while I followed the sounds and I'm sorry to say I found you, Miss Granger." Hermione raised her eyebrows. Whilst his words sounded caring enough, they were delivered in a flat, emotionless tone displaying no compassion whatsoever.
"So what was I attacked by?"
"A boolooga, Miss Granger."
"A what?"
Severus barely suppressed a snort.
"Yes, Miss Granger, I'm afraid this creature can't be found in any the books you have encountered at university or in this school's library. Not even in the Restricted Section." Hermione opened her mouth immediately to complain about the barely disguised insult, but his hand came up to silence her. Her mouth shut abruptly.
"Allow me to finish if you would. A boolooga is not common to this country – I believe there are only eleven known creatures, and unfortunately for you, one of these is currently residing in the Forbidden Forest. The boolooga is a flesh eating mammal which can best be described as a cross between a bat and a vampire. They prey on the weak, distraught or nervous and will suck the blood of their victim, normally resulting in death. To add to the dangers of the boolooga is the poison contained within its claws. When it scratches its victim this poison is transferred to the wounds, which if not cleaned rapidly can also lead to dea-"
"You did get the poison out of my wounds quick enough, didn't you?" Hermione asked, the first flash of fear crossing her pallid face.
"Yes, Miss Granger, I am confident that Madame Pomfrey was able to cleanse the wounds in sufficient time." Hermione nodded, pacified by his calm, if impassive words.
"So did you find me after the boolooga had left?"
"No, Severus found you when the boolooga was still attacking you. You were unconscious, Hermione, and Severus brought you back to the castle and straight here."
"Thank you, Sir. It seems I am indebted to you." Severus inclined his head in reply.
"Now, now, don't be ridiculous Hermione!" Minerva interrupted. "Severus just did what anyone would do."
"Indeed. Now, Hermione, I must ask you why you were in the Forbidden Forest, my dear," Dumbledore told her softly, his blue eyes sparkling into her own chestnut ones. Hermione bit her lip momentarily and tucked her unruly hair behind her ears.
"Well, after finishing my university course last summer, I was offered a job by the Ministry. I didn't take it because I wanted to gain more experience in my chosen field, so I decided to travel here to ask for an apprenticeship."
"Oh, Hermione that's wonderful news," Minerva gushed, quickly pulling her into a conversation concerning her degree. Meanwhile, Albus tactfully led Severus to one side.
"Severus, I trust you are aware Miss Granger majored in Potions at university?"
"Indeed," he replied flatly, knowing what was coming next.
"And you realise she is asking for an apprenticeship with you by coming here?" Severus sighed.
"Albus, I cannot be expected to teach the dunderheads to the level which I do, continue my potions research and tutor a former student at the same time! It's completely inconceivable," he said determinedly, his arms folded tightly across his chest.
"Have you considered that her experience may be of benefit to you?"
"Her? A wretched girl be a help to me? Don't be ridiculous Albus – are you seriously suggesting she could teach me anything?" He asked incredulously, looking at Albus as if he were insane.
"Severus, I honestly believe this would be an advantageous opportunity for you," Albus told him, the honestly sparkling blue eyes penetrating into his own bottomless black ones. "After all, you will never be able to take the Defence Against the Dark Arts position if no one is fully trained to replace you." Keeping his anger in check at his blatant bribery, Severus clenched his fists tightly in his pockets and rolled his eyes. He spun on his heel as he realised the conversation behind him had petered out. Both women were looking at him expectantly.
"Hermione, Severus and I have come to a unanimous decision that we would like to offer you a year's apprenticeship in Potions," said Albus before Severus could speak. Severus' mouth fell open as Hermione's lit up in pleasure. "Didn't we, Severus?" His gaze switched to the Headmaster. His mouth went suddenly dry and he swallowed roughly as he realised what he was about to do.
"Yes."
"Wonderful. Well, Minerva and I have matters we must discuss so we'll leave you two to talk," Albus said, moving towards the door. Minerva patted Hermione's hand comfortingly and followed Albus out, shutting the door with a click. There was a rather awkward moment of silence as Severus and Hermione watched them depart, both feeling strange at the thought of being alone together.
"Thank you for accepting me for an apprenticeship Professor, I really appreciate it." Severus nodded uncomfortably and sat down next to her.
"May I ask what ingredients you were collecting in the forest last night, Sir?" Hermione asked, pleased to be able to find some common ground.
"Of course, Miss Granger. I was collecting moonflower for a potion I am currently making. When we begin your training tomorrow, your first task will be to help be complete the potion. Unfortunately due to…events, the potion will not be able to be finished until we can collect fresh ingredients on the next full moon."
Hermione nodded before asking, "What exact potion is it you are trying to create?" Severus sighed and ran a hand distractedly through is shoulder length raven hair.
"It is the Memoria Recipio potion." At her confused expression, he continued. "This potion has been sought after for decades by many potion masters who are searching for a cure for the effects of Obliviate. If this potion works, it is thought that it will prevent total memory loss after the administration of the Obliviate curse."
Hermione's eyes widened in awe.
"Really Professor? But that's, that's…fantastic!" Her excitement at such an ingenious prospect was displayed all over her face.
"Yes, Miss Granger, if the potion works in the way I hope it will, it will be a significant discovery. Now, I fear it is getting late and I must depart before Madame Pomfrey finds I have been preventing you from resting. I trust you are sufficiently recovered to begin work tomorrow?" She nodded eagerly in the affirmative. "Then I expect to see you outside my dungeons at 8.30am sharp and no later. Am I understood, Miss Granger?" Again, she nodded.
He returned the gesture with a curt nod of his own before turning on his heel and gliding away through the Hospital Wing, his boots clicking on the hard floor and his robes swirling around him in a whirl of black.