Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Harry Potter and you know the rest of the drill, don't you?
Although, should you wish to buy me Severus, I would love you forever and ever.
Unexpected Comfort
Story by Jessica Arbuckle (Jessi, Princess of Impatience)
July 3rd - undetermined, 2005
Chapter Three, A Strange New Man…
Severus watched her eyes close again and he panicked. "Hermione," he said roughly, slightly shaking her. "Don't faint again."
"I didn't," came the low reply and he relaxed, the panic gone as fast as it had come. "But it wasn't from lack of trying," she muttered under her breath.
Albus laughed softly at the comment as she once again made eye contact with Severus. She felt disconcerted at the look on his face and the fact he still held her tightly against him. The look in his eyes was once she could never image her cold and sarcastic former Potions professor ever having for anything, most of all herself. The dark depths were warm and he looked concerned and a bit anxious, even though she had felt him physically relax when she had replied to him.
Matty awoke and began to cry, so she sat up away from Severus and he helped her to her feet before he released her, almost reluctantly. Her mind filed away the observation for later thought. She bounced her brother gently, making soft sounds to calm him. Looking up from him, she noticed Albus held the video camera in his hand.
"That should explain why I am here and why I am going to be in so much trouble with the Ministry," she said to him.
"Then you should play it for us," a feminine voice said behind her. She turned and saw Minerva and a smile broke out on her face. The older woman smiled back and gave her a brief hug before she held out her arms for Hermione's brother. Matty, who had stopped crying and was now gazing around with bright, interested eyes, gurgled up at Minerva as she talked softly to him.
Albus handed the camera to Hermione and she turned it on, fiddling with some settings before handing it back to him.
"You'll have to watch it one at a time," she said. "The screen is too tiny to watch it all at the same time."
She looked on silently as Albus watched all that had happened. She could hear everything, even thought she could not see it, and she relieved the moments in her room. She closed her eyes and clutched her stomach at the nausea that swept over her at the thought of what the man had been doing to her brother without her knowing. If Matty had not cried… She hung her head and began to sob softly. She felt, rather than heard, someone approach and a hand settled on her shoulder. She let it rest there, too caught up in the events from a short time ago to wonder at the man who now stood beside her. The gesture was simply too out of character for her mind to even try to process it right now.
Albus finished watching and handed the camera back to her with a solemn look. The bright twinkling of his eyes was dulled as he looked at her with compassion and pain. She knew, from years of watching and listening, that he felt the pain of those he looked after as strongly as if it were his own. She was touched that even after almost four years, she was still one of those people. She smiled faintly at him, trying for a brave face as she took the camera and rewound the tape. As it rewound, she looked to the man whose hand was still on her shoulder.
"It needs to rewind first," she said softly. "You can watch it in a few seconds."
Severus nodded and his hand tightened slightly on her shoulder. She met his gaze as she handed him the camera. Again, she felt a sense of comfort wash over her at his touch and presence, not the shock or awkwardness she would have been felt a few short years ago when faced with such a wildly different Severus Snape. Once again, his face was full of concern for her, although there was a deeper emotion that she suspected could be anger. She wondered briefly, as she hit play, what could be making him so angry.
She watched his anger grow as he watched the scene on the video camera, as well as various other emotions she could not identify that crossed his face as he watched. Blocking the sounds this time, she used the free moments to truly examine the man before her. He seemed different in so many ways from the 'Professor Snape' she had known for eleven years, seven of which had exposed her to almost daily contact with him in one form or another. She would never have imagined that man comforting anyone, especially herself, and certainly would never expected him to be angry on her behalf. She felt like perhaps she was in some alternate place where nothing was the way it was supposed to be. 'Except that Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall are acting the 'normal' way,' she corrected herself mentally. The only one out of character was the pale, dark haired man before her.
As the screen again went blank, she reached for it, but his long fingers were already deftly moving over the camera to rewind the tape as he turned and walked towards Minerva. When it finished, he hit the play button and held the camera up for her so she could watch it.
"What was he doing?" Severus asked, his face looking angrily at the tape as it played again before he turned to look at Hermione.
"He was attempting to molest him," she said bitterly, not meeting his eyes as she walked to Minerva and gently took back Matty from her. He watched her hug the infant closer to her body and saw a tear slip down her cheek. He felt his rage grow and he considered Apparating to the man and performing the Cruciatus Curse himself.
He handed the camera to Minerva and came to Hermione's side. "Just say the word," he ground out, "and I'll take care of him permanently."
She looked up, shocked by the strength of his anger. "No, Professor…"
"Severus," he corrected, touching her arm.
"Severus," she said, slowly drawing it out. It felt odd to call him by his given name. "I won't have you in trouble with me."
"No one is in trouble," Albus said. "Hermione, even the Ministry would be hard pressed to fault you in your use of a minor hex in self defense, even against a Muggle. And no one will be visiting that house again except the Ministry," he said, leveling a stern look at Severus.
"I will alert the Ministry to your whereabouts, but first you will both visit with Madame Pomfrey and then we will all go to bed. No need for them to visit you until tomorrow," he said.
Hermione began to protest and Severus's hand, still on her arm, tightened. "Just do what he said Hermione… please?" he asked in a soft voice meant just for her.
Her eyes widened and she nodded, too shocked over his 'please' to further object. She allowed him to guide her in the direction of the infirmary.
Minerva approached Albus as they left. "Well, that was certainly… surprising," she said, looking at him above her spectacles.
"Not surprising, my dear Minerva. Delayed for far too long, but not surprising. I have a feeling we may have ourselves a highly entertaining summer after all," he said with a smile, his eyes again twinkling.
"What are you talking about Albus?" she asked sternly.
"You'll see, my dear," he said as he led her in the direction of the infirmary.
a/n: You know the drill and you know that I like it! Please R/R, because, yes, I would just adore it!