Pre-warning, Snape is quite OOC in this chapter. But I've written him like this simply because as a very kind reviewer pointed out to me, we do not see Snape when he is trapped in his rooms with a student who's ill and playing games with him, so we don't really know how he'd act. Hope you like the way I've written him! Pwease send me friendly flames if you don't, LOL
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Chapter Sixteen
Harry and Ron did not believe that it was possible for potions to be any more unbearable then it was. But during Wednesday's class, they discovered just how wrong they were. Snape was as foul of a mood then ever, and he completely ignored Harry and Ron, passing their cauldrons with a sneer. They knew it would be completely hopeless even to ask him if Hermione was okay. Instead they chose to spend the class throwing dark looks at the door to Snape's office.
It was painful to be so close to their friend, but never get to see her. Their pain showed through their potions, which were more pitiful then ever. Twenty minutes into the class, Snape swooped past their cauldrons, and with a flick of his wand, rid them of the potion. He did not need to comment, Harry and Ron already knew how miserable their potion was looking. But now they found themselves faces with the prospect of another hour and a half of potions with nothing to do, and knowing Hermione was so close…
Once upon a time, Harry had tried so hard not to look at that door, not to think about the slimy things in jars that adorned the walls of the dark office. Now he longed to fling it open, and rush through it, through Snape's private quarters and into the bedroom, to see if Hermione had been harmed.
The night before, long after the other seventh-year boys had fallen asleep, Harry had been restless. As he often did when he could not sleep, he pulled the Marauder's Map into his lap to see what the occupants of Hogwarts were doing with their time. Only a fool would assume all would be sleeping. Harry had often see many of his classmates sneaking about the castle, and had been forced to smother giggles when he saw the little figures of "Argus Filch" "Mrs Norris", or "Professor Snape" descend on the students. But tonight, only Argus Filch and Mrs Norris seemed to be prowling the castle.
Suddenly it dawned on him. Why hadn't he thought of it earlier, to check on Hermione through the map? He knew that he couldn't know if she was harmed or anything, but he could at least know where she was, and if Snape was with her. His eyes grew wide when he saw the figure marked "Hermione Granger" was placed within the dungeon house chambers of Professor Snape. Another thing that had never crossed him while worrying about Hermione was that she'd be staying in the greasy git's bedroom!
Suppressing a shudder, he was relieved to see the dot for Snape was in the sitting room. Good, Harry thought, at least he was leaving her alone. But this thought soon vanished as he watched the dot moved towards the bedroom. Here he watched the dot pace around for a bit, before moving very close to Hermione, where it came to a rest. Although he was pleased that the dots did not come into contact with each other, the thought still disgusted him. Hermione was in Snape's bedroom, with Snape. Of course Harry knew it was bound to happen, for Hermione to stay in his bed while healing, but that didn't go anyway towards making him feel better. Just as long as Snape was not in the bed with her.
Considering Ron's reaction to Hermione being in Snape's chambers while ill at all, which had been one of outrage, especially after being denied to see her, Harry thought it best if Ron was not told about this little realisation. He did not wish to watch his best friend's face turn as red as his hair as he turned over the thought of Hermione sharing a bedroom with Snape.
Of course, there was no proof that Snape was actually staying in the room with Hermione. But hours later, when Harry had woken with the map still open at his side, he was disgusted to see that the dots had no moved, Snape still appeared to be at Hermione's side.
Maybe she really is just that ill, Harry thought. But then again, he did not wish to think of his friend being in such danger. Even though Professor McGonagall had informed the pair that their friend would be okay, at the hands of Snape, they could not help but worry.
If she comes out of this okay, and unharmed by Snape, I promise never to distrust him again, Harry thought desperately. He smirked after saying this, knowing the plausibility of this statement was low.
But here in the classroom, so close to her, Harry was praying again and again that she would be okay.
When class finished, the two boys trudged up to the Great Hall for dinner, hoping to see Professor McGonagall along the way so they could beg her to let them see their friend. And they did see her!
Quick to stop her and question her, Harry and Ron were both infuriated by her quick and simple answer of "No." So much so, that Ron had kicked the nearest statue when McGonagall had rounded the next corner, causing Professor Sprout to take ten points from Gryffindor as she hurried along the hallway.
"It's just not fair, Harry." Ron said glumly. "What if something's wrong?"
Forcing himself not to think of the dots on the map from last night, Harry just answered with "I don't know."
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Hermione however was fine; she was awake and alert, sitting up in Snape's bed. She was alone, Snape was sitting in the sitting room eating a plate of food that the house elves had sent down. She had attempted to eat hers, but the boils on her hands proved to make it impossible, she could not hold the cutlery in her hands without crying out in pain. She could not even attempt to just shovel the food into her mouth with her hands. This upset her, because for the first time since Friday, she was hungry.
She had almost considered calling Professor Snape to help her, but she did not wish to bother him. He had been kind enough to help her with a bath before he sat down to his meal. Hermione almost laughed when she thought of this. Snape and kind just didn't quite seem right. Sure, he wasn't the evil bastard they all thought it was, he… just wasn't nice, either. But for the lat few days, he had been wonderful, helping her in between teaching classes, helping her when she woke screaming and tending to her boils. His touch was still impersonal, which Hermione was grateful for, but he did not seem so ashamed to be cleaning parts of her body no other male had ever touched – not that he'd ever know that.
Choosing to glare at her untouched dinner instead of thinking these thoughts about Snape, Hermione was surprised when she found the man in the doorway.
"Having trouble, Miss Granger?" He asked, and as it had been for the past few days, there was no sneer.
Turning her glare from the plate to the man in the doorway, she knew he knew she was smiling inwardly. After asking him to call her Hermione, he had teased her endlessly in his dry way, always calling her Miss Granger and putting quite the heavy emphasis on the words. Well, she at least found it better then the sneer he used in his classrooms. To infuriate him as much as he infuriated him, she simply refused to speak to him when he addressed her in such a way. Childish, but she had nothing better to do.
"No need for such a look." He said, raising an eyebrow. "Now, what is the matter?"
Wordlessly, Hermione held up her boil covered hands. While the boils were vanishing at an alarming rate, they were there enough to make it still hurt to touch things. She had begun to lay on her back for awhile, then her stomach, giving her back equal time to heal, as she found the boils on her back were not healing as fast as she would have hoped. She was ever so grateful for Snape giving her the potions he did; it was the only she peace she got from the pain besides sleep. And after sleeping for almost five days straight, she was being to tire of the activity, for lack of better words.
Another glare crossed her face as a lazy grin spread across Snape's face. "Really Miss Granger, you should use your words." He had long before worked out her game, not replying when he called her such, and to Hermione's astonishment, instead of blowing his stack at her, he had joined in the game, playing it with the same viciousness.
She guessed he had nothing better to do either. Once or twice though, he had almost been driven to call her by her name she assumed with much glee, as he either gave in to doing what he had to do, or just leaving the room. She was a Gryffindor, through and through, and she was not going to give in. She had almost laughed when he had.
Who would have guessed that Snape could have a sense of humour! She'd thought with glee when he'd joined the game she started.
Snape raised an eyebrow at her. "Well, Miss Granger¸ if you refuse to use your words like a big girl, I guess you won't be able to tell me what is wrong."
Oh, the torture. But she refused to give in, she was too proud for that. Instead, she mimicked him, raising an eyebrow back. When she let out a cry of "OW, fuck it!" when a boil on her forehead burst from the wrinkling of the skin. Amongst the pain, she was horrified. She'd just cursed a very serious curse in front of Snape. Surely he'd take points for that!
To her surprise, he did not seem concerned about her swearing. Instead, he instantly he rushed to her side, summoning a cool cloth to clean the burst boil. She felt so horrible, so embarrassed as tears welled up in her eyes. But if fucking stung! Once he'd finished, he leant back and examined her face.
"Perhaps that will teach you for playing silly little games, Hermione." He said quietly, looking deep in thought. Hermione would have grinned if she hadn't been so afraid of what other boil might burst. Glee threatened to rise of the over the pain. He'd given in!
"Now, back to original problem, what is causing you to attempt to kill your dinner with looks?" Snape asked gently.
"I'm hungry." She mumbled, looking down. When she looked up, Snape's eyebrow was raised again, like a flag asking a question. "I can't hold the damn knife and fork!" Tears threatened her eyes, though out of frustration this time. "It hurts so much." She whispered unhappily. Looking at the black bed, she felt even more embarrassed. When she felt him move, she was glad, he was leaving her to her misery.
She almost died when suddenly she felt his hand on her chin. "Here, Hermione." He said, and she allowed him to guide her head up to look at him. There he sat in front of her, the feared Potions Master of Hogwarts, with her dinner plate sitting on the bed between them, his other hand poised inches from her face, with a single piece of meat perched on it. She just looked at it blankly.
He rolled his eyes. "So much for the know-it-all," he said in an exasperated voice. "Eat," he commanded, moving the fork closer to her face.
Opening her mouth as the food came closer to her face, Hermione felt the humiliation she was feeling was enough to last her entire life. Snape was hand feeding her dinner. Never in her life had she felt like such a weak fool. But as he slowly helped her to eat her dinner, Hermione wondered why she was enjoying it. All girls like to be pampered once in a while, she thought. But this wasn't pampering, she quickly correct herself. This was just a teacher looking after an ill student. Even if this wasn't the teacher she thought she knew, it was still a teacher.
After she finished her dinner, he sent the plate off with a flick of his wand, and asked her if she'd like to sleep now. Her eyes looked hopefully at her school books which sat on the opposite side of the bed.
Again, Hermione saw Snape roll his eyes. "Do you ever stop studying?" He asked, and Hermione could not tell what was in his voice. Was it disgust? "You almost study as much as-" He broke off and stood up, moving around to the other side of the bed. "I suppose half an hour wouldn't be a problem, but then I've got papers to mark and lessons to plan." He said sternly, and the fun side of his had disappeared.
She could not help but wonder who he had been about to refer to. But he did not allow her to ask, instead he started to help her with her charms homework, becoming the guiding Professor she'd met over the past few nights, instead of the snarly professor the rest of the students knew him as. She pushed her question to the back of her mind as they worked over the next two hours, despite what Snape had said.
Hermione felt disappointment slip through her when he announced their study session over. It wasn't often that she often had the opportunity to talk to someone with a bank of knowledge as vast as Professor Snape's, she was determined to make the best of it. But as he closed her Transfiguration book, she knew her body needed the rest. Before he gave her the sleeping potion he had sitting on the bedside table, he gave her the last little bit of the healing potion, and then applied the other to her skin. Then, as she slowly gave into the slumber supplied by the sleeping potion, she heard his voice say softly, as he left the room to mark his papers:
"Ten points from Gryffindor for cursing, Miss Hermione."
There was a hint of laughter in his voice.
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How's that for chapter 16? I had fun writing that one.
Nattie, thanks for your concern and telling me to chill, but writing this is my way to chill, hee hee. I'm currently doing year 12, which is very very stressful (as anyone in Australia could tell you!), and I'm coming up to exams, so this my way to wind down after studying. Hope you like my calming way :-P
And bootyful, a kiss might just be coming up, it's all about the right moment :-P
LOL, no need to feel guilty JTBJAB! Just post when you can :-)
No Kiki, I don't pre-write, I post as soon as a chapter is finished, find it easier to do that. I suck at pre-writing, because I end up going back and re-writing everything three times over, only for it to turn out worse, lol. No hurry on the pic, concentrate on the needed stuff first!
Aw, NayNay, I will beat you with a shovel until you tell me my mistakes… I might actually fix them this time --rolls eyes--
Goodnight allllll, have a great weekend, I might not be able to post tomorrow night (it's my "best mate night", and also possibly not on Saturday, so enjoy this for now! I except hugs if I do post tomorrow or Satuday –rolls eyes again—
Thank you EVERYONE for your reviews, I love you all!