I'm hoping that this chapter will answer as to just why McGonagall is leaving Hermione in Snape's care when she could have picked any other teacher.
I promise that the next chapter (which hopefully will be up by tonight) will deal more with Hermione and what she's currently going through. For now, enjoy this!
-----------------------------------
Chapter Five
Hermione sighed as she soared gently around the open sky. She felt so free, so free….
------------------------------------
After giving Granger the first does of potion, Snape took to pacing the room again, furious. He wanted to tear something apart, wanted to vent this anger. It was impossible to believe that he had gotten roped into this! What made Minerva think that he had time to be caring for students? He was a potions Master, not some MediWizard. It was his job to brew the potions, not administer them!
His black robes billowed out behind him as he paced, and as he made a very quick, sharp time to continue, he managed to get himself caught in his robes, and into quite a tangle. It was with much swearing and snarling that he managed to untangle himself, his pale complexion now a dazzling red, and his hair sufficiently messed up.
It certainly did not help that McGonagall was standing in his doorway again when he looked up. She was holding a bundle of cloth in one hand, and a potion and some papers in the other.
"I believe Miss Granger may need some bed clothes. I think we should change her now and get her rested in bed." She said simply, looking over to the student who looked so peaceful, sleeping on the couch.
Snape's lip was threatening to stay permanently curled. He knew perfectly well what bed the Headmistress was talking about. He was already making plans on how to destroy it once the girl was cured.
Still, he helped move Granger into his bedroom. His bedroom. His own bedroom. His private bedroom.
He left the room to allow Minerva to change the girl's clothes, albeit her being still fast asleep. He then stayed silent as the Headmistress handed him the instructions for brewing and administering the potion. They both knew that as angry as he was about it all, he would still take proper care of the young witch until she was back to full health. Minerva predicted that it would take a little over a week for her to be back to fighting form again.
Minerva applied the first lot of potion to the boils that were appearing on Hermione's arms, legs and face. The Gryffindor twitched as this happened, but Minerva kept going. Snape prayed that the boils would not show up anywhere else.
"I know you'll take good care of her Severus." Minerva whispered as she left. "I have unfortunately been summoned to the Ministry for the next few days, so if you need any help, which I doubt you will, you should call on Filius." She pointed a finger sternly at him. "Under no circumstances are you to move Miss Granger, or call on Poppy Pomfrey to help take care of her!" She commanded before leaving the room.
Severus stood, rooted to the spot as if Minerva had hit him with a Stupefy curse. Behind him, he heard the student in his bed snort in her sleep. He furiously wondered how he was going to be able to deal with classes, with her but metres away, constantly, sleeping and needing to be looked after. How dare Minerva do this to him! How dare Miss Granger do this!
----------------------------------------------------------
Outside the dungeons, Minerva made her way upstairs to the Great Hall, hoping Mr Potter and Mr Weasley would still be dining. As she strode into the Hall, whose ceiling reflected the cloudy day outside, she immediately spotted to the two young men. She saw them look up and glance her way as she made her way over to them.
"Where's Hermione?" Mr Weasley asked the moment she was in hearing of the pair. Minerva shook her head, indicating that they should wait, and then beckoned them from the Hall. She felt the glances of students all around her as she led the pair, especially from students who had been in the classroom when Miss Granger collapsed.
Once outside in the Entrance Hall, Minerva stopped and turned to face the boys. "Miss Granger will be okay." She said, quite simply.
"What do you mean, "will be", Professor?" Mr Potter asked, curiously. Minerva knew he'd pick up on that.
"Miss Granger has managed to contract BlueCloud Fever. It is not contagious, nor is it really known why it is caused." She continues in a professional manner. "She is being administered the right potions, she will recover quickly."
Both boys let out a small sigh of relief at this news. "When can we go see her, Professor?" Mr Weasley asked, looking eager.
Minerva gave the boys a small smile, not sure how their reactions would be to the next piece of news. "Unfortunately, you will not be able to." She said, hoping they wouldn't press, although she knew better.
"But Professor, you said it's not contagious!" Mr Potter protested.
"Yes, I did, Mr Potter, but as Madam Promfrey is currently quite ill, Miss Granger is not being cared for in the hospital wing." She took a breath. "Professor Snape has been asked to look after her, in his private rooms, so you are forbidden to see her, without destroying any chances Gryffindor has for winning the House Cup." She said with a wry smile, watching as the faces on her didn't know what to do, be angry, concerned, or demand their friend back. Before they could say anything, she intervened. "You will not go and see her, or you both will be serving detentions with Mr Filch for a week!" She pointed her finger at them both, looking at them sternly. "Good day, boys." Turning, she was not quick enough not to catch the looks of horror on the faces of the pair.
Making her way up to the Head Office, Minerva wondered if she was doing the right thing to keep Miss Granger in Severus's care. She knew without a doubt that he would take care of her properly, but she almost worried that it would be a lot of strain on their teacher/student relationship, if Miss Granger were to shy away from his carings.
It was true that Snape was as time pressed as a lot of the staff, but she was leaving the young student in Snape's care hoping it would do a lot for him. She knew what he was going through, knew of his midnight prowling, his inability to sleep, his worries. She hoped that he took this to his heart as a sign of the trust.
Since discovering everything that he'd done under the Unforgivable Curses, Snape had once suggested to Minerva that his presence should not be tolerated at the school, that the staff may consider him untrustworthy. She'd only had one thing to say to him.
"Dumbledore trusted you."
At these words, Severus had turned violent, smashing a chair. "And look what I did! Look what happened! He trusted me only for me to kill him! Who cares that I was cursed, that I didn't know what I was doing!" He snarled when he noticed the expression on her face. "I still did it, and Dumbledore never knew that I couldn't be trusted."
He had left Minerva to her own horrified thoughts. She then wrote him a letter. The subject was never brought up between the two again, and Severus stayed on at the school.
Having a young student in his care may just be as big of a help to him as he would be to her. It just might take his mind off what had happened; help him get back in contact.
She could only hope.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Oh, wow! I can't believe all the fantastic reviews I'm getting! I thought I'd be nice and tell you all what I think, since you're all so nice to tell me what you think! Thank you again hugs you all
Class of 2011: Thanks for the review; I'm thrilled to hear that you're enjoying the story!
It's going to be fun to see him as a nurse, I hope you like the way I write him Velvet Storm!
I hope to please you with this SSHG tale Adriane Silberaeon, promise not to shoot me down if I don't:-P
Thanks herovillain, I guess we'll see how he copes with this, and yes, he definitely has the strength, this is Snape:-D
Yay, great to hear that you're on board Severus-Fan! They're my fav too, because I believe they are sooooo interesting and so much can be done!
Here you are saz293, I have continued! Hope you enjoy :-)
I'm glad you find my story cute Nattie88, hopefully you continue thinking like this! As for the bluecloud fever, I thought it was a bit out-there, so it'd be perfect for this!
Hope you find this chapter just as interesting, Dragonmaster Kurai
Here's your continuation, MidnightStarz, thank you for your rocking review
And yes, duj, yellow goo. And Minerva isn't specifically after Snape's time, she knows he has as much to do as the rest of the teachers, she just believes he is more able, it will also help him :-)
Not mad mentally unstable yes, you were my first reviewer, thank you so much! It was a real confidence boast for the first one to be so good, thank you so much! Thanks for your great reviews, stay with me!
JTBJAB I hope my last chapter was long enough for you, I am trying to keep my chapters longer, thank you sooooo much for your advice, I really, really appreciate it, being new to all this stuff! I love Snape as well, he's a fantastically intriguing character, thank you for your compliments! Keep reading!