I hope you all like this chapter, we get to see a little bit more of what Hermione is seeing

-----------------------------------------

Chapter Six

After taking third years for potions in the afternoon, Severus Snape returned to his private chambers to check on the student who lay sleeping in his bed. Her cheeks were now red, with no fresh boils, and every now and then she twitched, or gave a small sigh.

Sighing himself, Snape realised the time. It had been four hours since Miss Granger had been given her first dosage of potions, it was time for another. He had set them both carefully on his dark mahogany bedside table, which matched his four poster mahogany bed. Upon his desk he had left the instructions for brewing more of the potions.

Not sure how to approach the task, Snape settled onto the bed beside the young witch. Much to his dismay, her eyes fluttered open.

"Professor?" She asked, somewhat feebly. One hand came up from beneath the covers of his bedspread, and reached to pat the air around him. "Where are your wings?"

Deciding that she was still quite delirious, Snape spoke to her directly, praying he would get through to her. "Miss Granger, you're quite ill, you need to take this potion." He said, holding one up.

"Yes, that will help me fly, like you." She giggled, and then smiled up at him in a way she'd never done before.

Quite stiffly, he held the flask to her lips, and tipped it up, allowing her the suitable amount. Next came the most dreaded part. Picking up the other potion, he explained to the sick, giggling witch just what he needed to do. If she wasn't so sick, she'd probably find this very amusing Snape thought, as he attempted to explain it properly. He needn't bother, Miss Granger was fast asleep by the time he gently tugged the covers of the bed back to apply the potion on her boils.

Grinding his teeth, he forced him to check her stomach for any boils. He did not wish to explore any further, so simply tugged her shirt tight, to see if any unusual lumps appeared to be in places where he sorely wished they would not be. He allowed himself a sigh of relief when nothing showed up.

Pulling the sheets back up to cover her sleeping form, Snape backed away from he bed, having placed the potions back upon the beside table. Sighing, he left he room and returned to his office. From there, he retrieved the instructions for the potions, and opened the door to his private lab, which was just off his office, all the while keeping an ear out for Miss Granger.

----------------------------------------------------

Hermione wasn't entirely sure why she was flying, but she was. It had been a sweet sensation at first, soaring above the land so calmly, but after awhile, she became to tire. She was forced to admit she didn't know where she was, but she knew she had to return to where she was meant to be. She had other things to be doing.

Up ahead, the weather did not look as pleasant as the warm blue sky she was currently floating through. Grey clouds were gathering, and even from where she was floating she could see flashes of lightening. Unsure, she tried to turn back, but instead found herself gently being lowered towards the trees below her, unable to turn around.

She began to panic, and tried to twist her body around so she could fly back to wherever she had come from. A tree seemed to reach up, and the top brushed against her foot. Crying out, she felt as though her foot had been ripped open, but she didn't dare look. She fought to rise back into the sky, to fly higher. As she struggled, she saw a figure rise before her from the canopy of trees. She watched in horror as huge black wings spread from the man in front of her.

Floating above the land with such ease was Severus Snape. She had seen him earlier, along with Professor McGonagall, but only from a distance. Now he was barely inches from her, his massive, black, feathered wings beating slightly to keep him afloat. His robes fluttered gently in the breeze.

As he approached her, Hermione became terrified. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to fly backwards, hoping he'd go away. When she opened her eyes again, she was no longer in the open sky, but in a dark room, with Snape looming over her. Screaming, she trashed about until she was back in the sky, with the winged Snape. He had stopped, looking uncertain.

Exhaustion overtook Hermione quite suddenly, and in thin air it seemed, she lay on her back, too tired to anything but float on the breeze. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Snape sink gracefully back into the cover of the trees.

She sighed, feeling safe. But as her eyes caught sight of the approaching clouds, she knew this safety wasn't going to last.

----------------------------------------------

Slinking back into his potions lab, Snape swore. When he'd heard Miss Granger crying out, he'd left the room in such a rush that he'd forgotten about the potion. Without even looking at the potion he knew it'd been ruined. He'd needed to add crushed mugwort at just the right time, and that time had passed.

He had to fight the urge to throw the cauldron across the room, but it was not out of anger of the potion. What had Miss Granger seen that had made her scream so violently, to shake with such fear? He'd heard pain in the first cry, the cry that made him drop everything and run to his room, but that pain soon turned to fear.

With a wave of the wand he vanished the destroyed potion, and then set about creating a new one, feeling his sense calm down as he began. What could have happened? He wondered, as he added the ingredients in the appropriate order. Minerva had told him that the 'dreams' wouldn't stay pleasant for long, but he didn't expect this. He didn't want this, for Merlin's Sake! He didn't want to be taking care of brat who was going to scream and thrash and disturb him.

After finishing bottling up both potions, he realised that he had completely forgotten about dinner, and his stomach growled at him for it. He threw a sneer at the doorway to his bedroom, knowing it was the witch's fault. If she hadn't have screamed, he would have finished the potions long ago, and he could have had dinner.

Snape knew he was being childish. He hated attended dinner anyway, seeing all the students and teachers before him. He usually spent his entire meal remembering how he'd failed them, how he'd let so many horrible things happen last year. But it didn't stop him from being his usual terrible self. How else would the students do their work properly, if they did not fear what would happen if they were to fail?

Growling with frustration, he returned to his study and paced, attempting to calm himself without brewing a potion, which often worked so well for the man. Understanding that it wasn't going to happen, he sat down at his desk to mark second-year papers with his usual viciousness.

By the time he had finished, his stomach was growling as much as he did in a first-year class. He hadn't eaten since breakfast, and while there once was a time where he often did not eat for days, that hadn't been for quite some years, and his belly was used to being fed. Thankfully it now nine at night, time to give Miss Granger another dosage.

He entered the bedroom quietly, the student lay sleeping still, looking quite hollowed out. Snape wondered again what she was seeing, where she was flying. He reminded himself that this was not a fatal condition, just uncomfortable. He briefly wondered if there was anything that could be done for the Gryffindor, short of moving her into more comfortable surroundings. Feeling quite sure that there wasn't, his lip curled as he gently pulled the covers on the bed back.

His lip stayed curled as he applied the potion to her boils. He hated touching this… female. She wasn't a girl anymore, nor was she truly a woman. He tired to touch her as least as possible, yet was careful to remain gentle. He told himself that this was to stop her from becoming scared when she needn't.

As he tended to the boils on her legs, he noticed the absolute mess her left foot was in. Boils covered the bottom of it, one of two leaking. He could only think what could have caused that kind of damage. Was this what Miss Granger had been screaming about earlier? His face turned to a scowl. Who cared, as long as this witch was cured and out of his chambers as soon as possible.

Carefully he covered up her legs again; he moved to wake the sleeping figure. "Miss Granger," he said, giving her a gentle shake. "Miss Granger." He tried for a more insistent shake, until she roused.

"Don't harm me." She mumbled. Snape's eyes widened in shock, before narrowing quickly. How dare she think that he would! Not wanting to believe himself, he could understand her fears. And this shook him greatly.

"I won't hurt you Miss Granger." He whispered. "I'm here to help you." He brought the potion up to her lips and she drank.

-------------------------------------------

Back in the sky, Hermione heard the gentleness in his words. "I'm here to help you."

This time Snape was floating behind her, holding out his hand. Ahead of her, the grey clouds were closing in very quickly.

Although she'd never heard such gentleness in her professor's voice, the Gryffindor in her decided to trust him. Turning her back on the grey clouds, she reached out and took his hand, letting him pull her back to safety, just a little.

And he was right… he didn't hurt her… for now.

-----------------------------------------

Hope that chapter was okay! Thanks for all your wonderful reviews; I blush every time I read them!

I'm glad you found the information on Professor McGonagall interesting, Velvet Storm, just wanted to back up why she chose Snape. Thanks for reviewing again!

Fiji-Hopper, I'm really glad you love my story, hope you continue to!

JTBJAB, no, I've no idea what Ashwinder in, will have to email and ask! And I appreciate your help so much, thanks for understanding:-)

Welcome to my story Kiki, thanks for reading! I'm so glad to hear that you're enjoying it, and I feel really special for being allowed to call you by your name! And yeah, I agree McGonagall was a little ooc, but I needed her to be that way as to explain things. Also, I figured she'd be a little different has headmistress.

Thanks again for your advice Nastygurl, I suppose it does look that way. I actually tend to write my story around everything I'm doing (eg, when taking a break from homework or whatever). Sorry about that! I'll try harder to make it better! Thanks for all your comments :-)

Yes, Silver Fang, it will be interesting to see the dear Potions Master as a nurse! I look forward to more reviews!

I hope that you do in the end find my story amusing showmethehobbit, enjoy!

I look forward to more reviews, please, please, please tell me what you thought of this chapter!