Chapter Seven: Compromising Situations...

They both had a wonderfully delicious lunch and after they were stuffed to the brim, Hermione decided to help Dobby clean, in hopes of finding out more about Snape's house and the things hidden within.

They made their way to the second floor and Dobby led her along to the end of a dead-end hallway.

"Dobby, what are we doing here?" she asked. She was pretty sure she couldn't walk through walls.

But before he could answer, he had pushed his hand against the wall and muttered "Canticus" and a small door, no taller than Dobby appeared right in front of her eyes.

"How did you kn—" she started...

"—Dumbledore knows a lot Miss..." he said with a truthful grin.

Hermione had to get down and crawl through the small door. When she got up and brushed the dirt off of her knees she could see that she was in a completely dark room, except for a shimmering silver light, or gas of some kind, swimming throughout the room. She had no idea what it was, it was completely utouchable. She couldn't make out anything else, so she took out her wand and said "Lumos!" and her wand tip shone with light. She could see that there was nothing else in the room, just the silvery blue glimmer filling the empty space.

"Dobby what is this?" she asked. It struck her as odd that she was asking Dobby so many questions. Usually Hermione had all the answers.

"This..." he said, pointing around at the silver shimmer, "Is the spirit of the house." He said.

"The what?" she asked.

"The house's spirit Miss. It is what is keeping people like you out of the house, but you are safe, of course. The house is alive miss...very much alive, and dangerous." He said, his voice drifting off.

Dobby sat down cross-legged on the floor, and Hermione followed suit. She was entranced by the shimmer and was speechless. Dobby was whispering things under his breath but nothing was happening.

"Dobby is trying to get rid of this Miss. Dumbledore told me how, but its not working!" he said as though he knew Hermione was going to ask him what he was doing.

Dobby pulled out a piece of parchment from a pocket of one of his several sweaters and handed it to Hermione. On the parchment, was a spell of some kind, obviously in another language, which she was sure was Italian.

"I has recited that Miss, but nothing works!"

Hermione held it up to her wand to see better and started to read it.

"Questa casa di malvagio sarà distrutta ed i pericoli che dimorano in queste barriere saranno nessuno più. Quelli che vive l'interno di questi muri protetti sono negati l'amore nessuno più. Lo spirito bardato entro sarà frantumato e quelli che non erano una volta abbastanza puro per entrare qui sarà sicuro entro i suoi muri."

She half expected the shimmer to disappear, but nothing happened. She had no idea what she has just said but she was sure that it had to mean something.

"I don't know Dobby, we can try to get a hold of Dumbledore and see what we're doing wrong.."

They had given up after a while and Hermione went back to her bedroom. She didn't feel sick, but she felt fatigued and went to go lay down.

As soon as her head hit the pillow she was off in a deep slumber, and was experiencing the most peculiar dream....

"Hermione! Don't go!" a man was screaming.

"I have to...I cant be with you" she said.

"But... I love you Hermione!" said the man again.

Hermione started to run for the door but her caught her by the shoulder. She turned and looked into the face of...

"Dobby! You scared me!" Hermione was sitting up and breathing hard. Dobby had been leaning over her, poking and prodding her to wake up.

Hermione vaguely remembered the dream she was having. Someone was talking to her, telling her something important, but she couldn't remember whose face it was.

She didn't think anything of it. Dobby had brought her up her breakfast and she ate so particularly fast. She thought Dobby would have left after bringing up her breakfast, but he sat down on a stool at the end of her bed and was grinning at her in an odd sort of way.

After she finished inhaling her breakfast she had to ask why Dobby was staring at her.

"Dobby, do you need something?" she asked, trying not to offend him.

"Someone is here to see us Miss!" He said. Hermione had noticed that he said 'us' and wondered who it could be. But just as she was thinking of who could be here someone walked in the door and gave a gracious smile to them both.

The man had a long silver beard and matching eyebrows. He was wearing deep red robes with silver moons and stars embroidered right on them. His curious twinkling eyes were peering over half-moon spectacles.

"Dumbledore!" Screamed Hermione with an enormous smile.

"that's Professor Dumbledore Miss Granger.." he said with a smile.

"What are you doing here? I wasn't expecting any visitors, I've been so bored and Snape – Professor Snape is so sick and I just wanted—" she rambled on..

"Slow down Miss Granger!" he said gently "I am here on a request from Professor Snape. Well actually, he didn't exactly call me, but I can tell he needs my help. I have the understanding that you were attacked Miss Granger. I am here to help in any way I can." He said. As soon as the words left his mouth and entered her ears, she felt a complete comfort in the depths of her heart.

"But Professor, my body fought of the affects and I'm fine!" she said confidently.

"Ah, you see Miss Granger, not everything is what it seems." He said.

"What do you mean Professor?" she asked curiously.

"Well, you may not feel ill but you are being damaged internally. If this is to continue...you will become increasingly ill...and eventually, well you know where that road leads." He said maintaining the smile on his face. "Fortuantely, I have learned how to reverse this while on vacation in Tibet in the summer of 1942. A very gracious goblin by the name of Snoober..." he said drifting off in his voice. "But that's not important obviously!" he said, seeing the confused look on Hermione's face. "Anyway, I am here to cure you Miss Granger. Now...Lie down please!" he said. It was all happening so fast that she didn't know what to say.

Hermione put her head back down on her pillow and she closed her eyes. She didn't know what Dumbledore was doing but she felt a cool tingle pulse through her body several times. It felt odd...like a ice cold liquid was being poured through her veins. She opened her eyes and saw Dumbledore with his wand in hand and was moving it up and down over her body. His wand suddenly emitted blue sparks and he lifted the wand from Hermione.

"Well! That should do it! Thank you Miss Granger, I'll be going now." He said and was almost out of the door before Hermione stopped him.

"Professor! Wait! I have some questions to ask you..." she said timidly. She didn't know exactly what she was going to say but so much was running through her mind right now and she needed to get some of it off of her chest. Hermione was just tired of asking Dobby's questions.

"Of course..." he said. Dumbledore didn't look as though he wanted to, but looked as though he knew what was coming and wasn't at all surprised.

"Professor Snape sir....I think he's getting worse." She said truthfully.

"Miss Granger, I have complete faith in you and your potion making skills. And remember, it has to get worse before it can get better. I assure you that Professor Snape will be fine." He said with a smile.

Hermione wasn't completely assured with what he said, but he had never lied to her and was a person that you could always rely on to tell the truth, whether bad or good.

"What is all this 'evil' stuff in the house sir and what is that spell, Dobby and I couldn't get it to work. I was just wondering –"

"Slow down..." he said again, "The evils that lie in these walls is something I would rather not explain right now, as I don't have the time. And as to the spell, I realized that it wont work and will have to get back to you on that. But don't worry, you are completely safe her Miss Granger." He said, and with a wink and a 'pop' Dumbledore disappeared.

Hermione went downstairs to bury herself in a book. When she was overwhelmed and unsure of things, the first thing that Hermione always does is read. She reads because she can let things in her mind go and she can let herself fall into the words of the book she's reading. She opened a random book off of the bookshelf and began to roll her eyes across the pages. And without knowing it....drifted off to sleep again.

Upstairs, Severus Snape was awake and wasn't able to sleep. He knew that the potion Hermione had given him was helping, but not much. He had been thinking about Nadalia all day long and every time his pale eyes looked into her warm eyes, he couldn't help but notice how much Nadalia and Hermione looked alike. But the thing that was running through his mind the most was the reoccurring dream he'd had for the past week.

There was a young woman in his dreams telling him that she loved him and didn't want him to leave, but he never saw her face. He had thought it was Nadalia, but he noticed that the girl seemed like a younger version of Nadalia...he had thought that it was...Hermione.

He didn't know why these thoughts and dreams were coming to him now, but he was so confused and perplexed. Hermione was the one person that Snape enjoyed giving a hard time and despised her for being a muggle born. But lately, seeing that Hermione was helping him and hearing that she cared if he died, he had changed his view about her. He saw her in a different light, and felt that he was feeling something for her...but what that feeling was...he had no idea.

When he had lost Nadalia, he had put enchantments on the house. He didn't want another muggle born to enter his house ever again. The pain of losing her was something he never wanted to feel again, it was heart-wrenching. Because of the large amount of spells put on the house, the house gave birth to a spirit, something that only the Master of the home could control. The spirit would make sure that nothing ever entered the house that wasn't worthy of being there, and it also made sure that the Master living there would never fall in love again, to spare him the pain of losing another loved one.

Snape tried to sit up, but failed to do so. He was feeling rather hungry, but he was so tired lately he couldn't stay awake to even eat a bite. But he had enough energy from the potion that he recently took that he figured he should probably eat while he had the chance.

His hoarse voice tried to call out for Hermione, but he wasn't loud enough. He tried again and heard someone come in, but it was just Dobby.

"Need Hermione" he groaned.

"Of courses Master!" and Dobby was off.

Downstairs, Hermione was having the same dream. Every time the man got close to her she couldn't make out who it was because she woke up. She gave up trying to sleep and sat up, she didn't know what else to do. She was just about to go to the kitchen to get a snack when Dobby rushed up to her and gave her the message that Snape needed her right away. Hermione was scared, Dobby made it sound as though something was seriously wrong, although Dobby tended to dramatized things a bit.

Hermione rushed up the stairs and raced to the room as fast as she could. When she finally got there, she was out of breath and having a hard time taking in her air.

"What....is...it?" she said as she gasped for breath.

"Hermione...food...please.." was all he managed to get out.

Hermione didn't ask any questions and ran downstairs to get some food from the kitchen. She opened up the fridge and got everything she could. She got some cheese, pumpkin juice, bread, chicken, and a half of a sandwich she had left unfinished the other day. Running upstairs to get the food to Snape, the only thing that she could think of was that Snape had called her Hermione and not Granger.

Hermione kneeled down on the floor next to Snape's bed and was helping him eat his food. She held a straw up to his mouth so he could get some fluids, and when juice started to trickle down his cheek, she caught it with a napkin.

When he was finished eating, Hermione stayed sitting by him because she was exhausted and had nothing else to do, and the fact that she felt that if she left him alone, something terrible might happen.

Snape fell asleep again and Hermione was leaning her head against his night table. She was so tired but didn't want to fall asleep because she wanted to make sure that he was ok. Snape's arm fell limply off of the bed and fell onto her face and brushed against her cheek. Hermione didn't want to move it. She didn't want to move at all. She just left it there. She was getting so tired...she just wanted to sleep...but no...she had to stay awake.

Without realizing it, she lifted her hand up and placed it in Snape's hand. She then fell asleep and had the same dream. Little did she know was that, at that very moment, Snape was having almost the same exact dream.

The next morning, Snape was the first to wake. He was still very ill and a bit disoriented, but he had enough strength still in him from the potion. He suddenly realized that somebody was holding his hand. He peered down and saw Hermione was the one holding him and she was fast asleep. He felt ashamed to say it, but he had never seen her look so beautiful, and he didn't want to let go of her hand for some reason. He tried to but he just kept holding on. With her hand in his, he felt safe and comforted. He didn't even want to know how it got there, he was just happy it was there and he couldn't explain why.

Hermione woke up next, finding it difficult to keep her heavy lids from closing again. She looked around and realized that she was still on the floor and she was as stiff as a board from not sleeping on a bed. She looked up and saw Snape staring at her and she was...holding his hand? She didn't know what was going on but she was startled at him staring at her and jumped up in surprise.

"W-what's going on?" she said...she was very confused....and very scared.

"Oh...er...nothing. What do you mean Granger?" he said...also very scared.

He was subconsciously wiping his hand on the covers.

"You were holding my hand! And you were staring at me...." She said quietly, hoping that he wouldn't hear her.

"I don't know what you're talking about Hermi—Granger. You're obviously a little...off today." He lied.

Hermione moved over to his bed and sat down next to him.

"Professor...whats really going on?" she asked, hoping for a truthful answer.

But Snape couldn't say anything... he was completely entranced by Hermione's eyes. He was just as confused as her. The last thing he wanted was to feel something for Hermione. It was impossible! It was idiotic! But still...he couldn't take his eyes away from her. He put his hand on her cheek and gently brushed it. His hands were surprisingly soft to Hermione.

Hermione, however, was completely taken aback by this and took his hand in hers and pulled it away. She didn't know what was going on! But she found herself looking into his eyes. When she first met him at Hogwart's she saw a cruel, cold man but now...she saw something different, a completely different man and she didn't know how to respond to that.

Neither of them said a word. They didn't move either. They just sat there staring at each other. But after a few minutes, Snape decided to break the silence.

"Um...Hermione...can I ask you something?" he said quietly.

"Yeah, sure." She answered, but wasn't completely sure she was ready for what was coming, he had called her Hermione again. She wasn't completely ok with that either.

"Whats going on here..." He said with a look of bewilderment on his face.

"What do you mean...I'm just as confused Sir..." said Hermione.

"N-Nothing...forget about it. You better go check on that potion Granger." He said as though nothing had happened. He had called her Hermione again, but it didn't seem as weird.

"Right...I'll check on you later Professor." She said oddly.

"It's Severus...call me Severus." He said with a smile.

He was scaring her a little now.

"Um...right. Goodbye." And she rushed out of the door to go check on the potion.

When she got to the room, she wasn't even going to attempt to try and figure out what was going on. She was going to try to keep her mind off of it and relax. She went to the cupboard, added a few more ingredients and stirred 25 times counterclockwise and then 39 times clockwise. Her potion was coming along nicely and it wouldn't take too much longer to complete.

Hermione was getting a little overwhelmed and she felt like she needed some air. She didn't dare wander out into the forest so she went over to the only window in that room and opened it and stuck her head out. She felt the cold chilling breezed pass against her cheek and it reminded her of Snape touching her cheek. In the distance she saw something flying in the air. As it came closer she noticed that it was an owl and it was flying right towards her.

The owl landed on the brim of one of the cauldrons and Hermione noticed a letter attached to the Owl's leg. There was beautiful emerald green writing on the front that said "Miss Hermione Granger."

Hermione recognized the handwriting as Dumbledore's and started to panic. She thought that somehow Dumbledore had found out what happened earlier. Nevertheless, she ripped open the letter and began to read:

Miss Granger-

I understood you have been preoccupied at the current moment. However, you should know that Hogwart's students have been back to their lessons for several days now. However, I have instructed for a private teacher to give you lessons during your stay at Professor Snape's. This person is a fully qualified teacher, who knows a great deal on every subject you are currently enrolled in. I know you will not let yourself get behind, so do a great job! We all miss you here at Hogwart's and hope for safe and healthy return of you and your patient!

Take Care,

Albus Dumbledore

Hermione had completely forgotten that the Christmas Holiday had ended quite a while ago. She had way too much on her mind, but the thought of getting back on track with her schoolwork gave her a boost of comfort. She tucked the letter away, wondering who her teacher would be, and if they would be a decent person. She had imagined an old, cranky man with gray hair and a passion for punishment.

For the remainder of that day, Hermione sat completely still on her daybed, curling her sleek brown hair around her smooth fingers. She had never in a million years predicted that anything like that would have happened between herself and Professer Snape. He had acted a bit like that earlier but that was because Lorish tainted her potion and made Snape think he loved Hermione. Luckily, she completely trusted Dobby, and didn't even think he would do something like that. She didn't want to admit it, but she was pretty sure that he was acting out of his own accord.