One Young Heart
Chapter 6: Timid No Longer
Hermione froze, between Snape's hand gripping her wrist and a tremendous gray cat staring straight at her
---
Severus was still very confused when he woke to his cat's hiss. Zaire never made that noise without good reason, so he had reached out blindly and grasped the first thing he could find while he thought it all out. A vague memory of falling unconscious to the floor passed through his mind. But... he wasn't on the floor. he was on a couch. His couch. And the last thing he could remember was Hermione Granger's voice. Which meant...
"MISS GRANGER!"
---
Hermione jumped sharply before turning slowly around to face him.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"
That remark seemed to have let off his excess steam, and he continued in his normal, poisonous tone "Miss Granger, you seem to be under the impression that your frizzled little head compensates for every imaginable transgression on my patience. You have no right to be in rooms. remove yourself immediately. I will determine your punishment later." Behind him the cat retreated into the shadows
"Professor, you were injured, and-"
He recovered his steam and went off again. The force of his enthusiasm destroyed Hermione's inexpert bandaging, and his wound resumed bleeding.
"MISS GRANGER!"
She continued as firmly as she could, her small quavering voice filling the moments in which his was not echoing around the study.
"Classes would have reentered shortly, and-"
"YOU WILL REMOVE YOURSELF-"
"They would have reacted badly to your presence, discovered where your rooms lay, and-"
"IMMEDIATELY AND IF I HAVE ANY SAY IN IT YOU WOULD"
"Divined from your wound and your obvious exposure to the Unforgivable curses that-"
"BE EXPELLED IMMEDIATELY. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT-"
"YOU HAD BEEN TO SEE VOLDEMORT!!!!" Hermione, giving up on civilized behavior, respect for teachers, and decorum, screamed at the top of her lungs. Her words startled Snape, it seemed, for he staggered backwards and sat down hard, staring at her.
---
Severus Snape was flabbergasted. He had encountered virtually every personality type imaginable during his tenure at Hogwarts, but never had a student yelled at him directly. He felt the fury that had animated him leave, his automatic recriminations fall from his lips, the strength leave his limbs, and he fell back on the couch, staring at the timid girl who had assisted him all year. A girl who, it would seem, was timid no longer.
---
Hermione watched him sit down again, and, shocked at her own daring, said. "You oughtn't to have become excited. Your wound is in a difficult spot to heal. What happened to you, anyway?"
Snape had allowed her to approach him, but upon hearing he question, he gripped her arm tightly, and forced her to meet his eyes "None of your business, you filthy little sneak. I may be allowing you to help this once, but I can assure you it will NEVER happen again. Good day" He released her and turned away the instant she completed the spell.
Hermione stood up, but didn't leave. She had seen the look in eyes when she asked the question, and in that instant, she understood Snape more clearly than she had ever understood a man. Seeing the fear, the desolation, and the pain in his eyes beside the intelligence, seeing the sacrifice he made for them all, she made herself a promise: she would help this man in what he sought to do; she would help him survive. Thus she turned, resolute, to her teacher and said "You ought to have help, professor. Voldemort is bound to be more suspicious this time, and you may be badly injured or need help to keep appearing normal' enthusiasm reentered her voice, as it always did when she came up with an insane scheme. "I'm supposed to be helping you with your work. I can help you with this too."
His expression changed from irritated to furious, but he did not yell. Instead his voice issued from deep in his throat, musical and fluid, as it did when he taught. Hermione felt with a thrill that this was the real Snape, speaking from his heart, without considering or choosing his words. "You want to know what happened to me, Miss Granger? All right, I'll tell you. I was told to poison Minervra McGonagall. Obviously that wouldn't do, so I said she carried a spell that neutralized the potion, but suspected me too much for a repeat attempt with a different formula. You know what I got for that, Granger? What I got for what seemed to Him to be an unavoidable circumstance, beyond my control? He flung me into the fire, INTO the fire, mind, demoted me, had me beaten with flaming brands, and then left me in a pit under the Cruciatus for three hours. I have no idea when he decided to break my head open, but I am comforted by the knowledge that it must have been very fun for that, miserable, worthless, cowardly little half-blood, who no one would have noticed but that he happens to be brilliant and apparently immortal. Does that sound fun to you, Miss Granger, does it fit your idea of a hero? Still want to help?"
Stubbornly, Hermione hid her fear of the man opposite her, and exclaimed "Yes! You see, sir, that just shows how much you need help. You need my help. You'll never make it alone"
Coldly, he said "You're wrong, Miss Granger. I will never need your help."
As the door to his rooms slammed in her face, she quietly said "You will."
Chapter 6: Timid No Longer
Hermione froze, between Snape's hand gripping her wrist and a tremendous gray cat staring straight at her
---
Severus was still very confused when he woke to his cat's hiss. Zaire never made that noise without good reason, so he had reached out blindly and grasped the first thing he could find while he thought it all out. A vague memory of falling unconscious to the floor passed through his mind. But... he wasn't on the floor. he was on a couch. His couch. And the last thing he could remember was Hermione Granger's voice. Which meant...
"MISS GRANGER!"
---
Hermione jumped sharply before turning slowly around to face him.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"
That remark seemed to have let off his excess steam, and he continued in his normal, poisonous tone "Miss Granger, you seem to be under the impression that your frizzled little head compensates for every imaginable transgression on my patience. You have no right to be in rooms. remove yourself immediately. I will determine your punishment later." Behind him the cat retreated into the shadows
"Professor, you were injured, and-"
He recovered his steam and went off again. The force of his enthusiasm destroyed Hermione's inexpert bandaging, and his wound resumed bleeding.
"MISS GRANGER!"
She continued as firmly as she could, her small quavering voice filling the moments in which his was not echoing around the study.
"Classes would have reentered shortly, and-"
"YOU WILL REMOVE YOURSELF-"
"They would have reacted badly to your presence, discovered where your rooms lay, and-"
"IMMEDIATELY AND IF I HAVE ANY SAY IN IT YOU WOULD"
"Divined from your wound and your obvious exposure to the Unforgivable curses that-"
"BE EXPELLED IMMEDIATELY. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT-"
"YOU HAD BEEN TO SEE VOLDEMORT!!!!" Hermione, giving up on civilized behavior, respect for teachers, and decorum, screamed at the top of her lungs. Her words startled Snape, it seemed, for he staggered backwards and sat down hard, staring at her.
---
Severus Snape was flabbergasted. He had encountered virtually every personality type imaginable during his tenure at Hogwarts, but never had a student yelled at him directly. He felt the fury that had animated him leave, his automatic recriminations fall from his lips, the strength leave his limbs, and he fell back on the couch, staring at the timid girl who had assisted him all year. A girl who, it would seem, was timid no longer.
---
Hermione watched him sit down again, and, shocked at her own daring, said. "You oughtn't to have become excited. Your wound is in a difficult spot to heal. What happened to you, anyway?"
Snape had allowed her to approach him, but upon hearing he question, he gripped her arm tightly, and forced her to meet his eyes "None of your business, you filthy little sneak. I may be allowing you to help this once, but I can assure you it will NEVER happen again. Good day" He released her and turned away the instant she completed the spell.
Hermione stood up, but didn't leave. She had seen the look in eyes when she asked the question, and in that instant, she understood Snape more clearly than she had ever understood a man. Seeing the fear, the desolation, and the pain in his eyes beside the intelligence, seeing the sacrifice he made for them all, she made herself a promise: she would help this man in what he sought to do; she would help him survive. Thus she turned, resolute, to her teacher and said "You ought to have help, professor. Voldemort is bound to be more suspicious this time, and you may be badly injured or need help to keep appearing normal' enthusiasm reentered her voice, as it always did when she came up with an insane scheme. "I'm supposed to be helping you with your work. I can help you with this too."
His expression changed from irritated to furious, but he did not yell. Instead his voice issued from deep in his throat, musical and fluid, as it did when he taught. Hermione felt with a thrill that this was the real Snape, speaking from his heart, without considering or choosing his words. "You want to know what happened to me, Miss Granger? All right, I'll tell you. I was told to poison Minervra McGonagall. Obviously that wouldn't do, so I said she carried a spell that neutralized the potion, but suspected me too much for a repeat attempt with a different formula. You know what I got for that, Granger? What I got for what seemed to Him to be an unavoidable circumstance, beyond my control? He flung me into the fire, INTO the fire, mind, demoted me, had me beaten with flaming brands, and then left me in a pit under the Cruciatus for three hours. I have no idea when he decided to break my head open, but I am comforted by the knowledge that it must have been very fun for that, miserable, worthless, cowardly little half-blood, who no one would have noticed but that he happens to be brilliant and apparently immortal. Does that sound fun to you, Miss Granger, does it fit your idea of a hero? Still want to help?"
Stubbornly, Hermione hid her fear of the man opposite her, and exclaimed "Yes! You see, sir, that just shows how much you need help. You need my help. You'll never make it alone"
Coldly, he said "You're wrong, Miss Granger. I will never need your help."
As the door to his rooms slammed in her face, she quietly said "You will."