Chapter 15
A bushy haired girl raced along the abandoned corridor, robes flying out behind her, heels clicking on the stone floor. The dusty doors flashed passed her as she sped towards the corner, constantly looking over her shoulder, fear etched in her features.
Rounding the corner she took another quick peak behind her. Before she knew what was happening she slammed against the wall, a scream escaping her lips at the sudden movement.
"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in," spoke a voice to her right. Turning her head she watched the shadows intently, her head the only thing she could move. The rest of her body was pinned to the wall. "However," the voice continued, "I doubt even a cat would touch such filth like you!"
He finally emerged enough into the dim candlelit corridor that she could see him but only just make out his face. He was tall and slim, one may even describe him as rabbit-like in appearance.
His robes were spotless, the visible underside green. Slytherin. Her breathing quickened as her already heightened fear rose another notch.
He casually strolled along the edge of the shadows, his wand still holding her captive against the stone wall. His eyes glinted as they turned to her. In a flash he was right in front of her, his hand tightly against her neck.
Hermione stuck out at him, her limbs twisting in her sheets. She sat bolt upright breathing deeply, a sweat covering her brow, her throat sore. It was a dream, all a dream. She flopped back in the bed staring at the ceiling above her.
It had been days since her encounter with the two Slytherins, their presence constantly plaguing her. Not once had she gotten a decent rest. Whenever she closed her eyes he would emerge from her subconscious to torment her.
Reaching under her pillow for her wand she kicked back the blankets and swung her legs of the side of the bed. Pulling herself up she lit the tip of her wand with a flick of her wrist. Moving the small beam of light in front of her she moved out of the guest room. Walking around the top ledge of the sitting room she allowed her eyes to properly adjust to the light, the only sources her wand and the glowing embers of the dieing fire. Stepping through the doorway to the far right she entered the kitchen.
The small light spread across the empty countertop as she slowly moved around the edge of the room. Reaching up she opened the cupboard containing the glasses and removed one, filling it in the sink. Turning off the taps she rested back against the counter top, her wand hand on the ledge. Hermione sipped the water letting it wash away the stickiness in her mouth and soothing her throat. Finishing the glass of water she tapped it with her wand and returned it to the cupboard, shutting it as quietly as possible.
Just as she made her way back around the sitting room a burst of magic followed by a bright green light emanated from the fireplace. Someone was using the floo. None of the teachers would interrupt Professor Snape this late at night so it was most likely that it was an unwelcome guest.
Hermione did the first thing that come to mind; hide. She darted in the doorway to her left not even thinking what room she might be entering. Her footsteps and the opening of the door were hidden by the cracking of the fire as it flared.
Before she could even try to remember what room she had just entered she was pulled back against a warm body about a meter from the door. One arm was around her mid-section, the other covering her mouth before she screamed. After her initial shock the person released her. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was.
"Around the other side of the bed," Severus told her. His face was masked in the semi-darkness. "Go."
Hermione took in the room. The bed, dark covers tossed about, was against the wall to her left, bedside tables on each side. There was another door way on the wall to her right leading to what appeared to be a bathroom.
Moving around the bed she knelt down on the rug covered floor. She watched him in the glow radiating into the room from the now blazing fire outside.
"Stay here until I come and get you. If anyone else comes in here, stun them," he told her before disappearing out the door. Hermione bent low, so that she was not visible.
ooOOoo
Severus whipped around the corner of his room into the sitting room wand drawn, ready to duck back into his room if necessary. His fireplace was only accessible from the other Hogwarts Professor's fireplaces and a select one or two outside Hogwarts. None of those people, however, would interrupt him in the middle of the night in his private residence. That meant it was most likely someone that had hacked into his fireplace. Someone who was not welcome.
The fireplace was blazing from the floo entry, filling the room with light. His eyes adjusted to the light in less than half a second. A small cloud of green hung in the air, the tell tale sign of using too much floo powder. The person was probably not well adapted to floo travel then, he concluded. A small black mass was lying in the middle of the rug in front of the fireplace, covered in soot.
Severus edged forward, wand at the ready if the mass jumped up. His eyes darted around the room periodically, his ears straining. No one else had arrived in the floo, the soot only leading to the mass of cloth. The only sounds were the crackling of the fire, the soft padding of his feet and a barely distinguishable sound of shallow breathing coming from the sooty pile.
With a flick of his wrist the fabric flew back accompanied with a cloud of soot to reveal the face of a small girl. There were smudges of soot across her face, her black wavy hair falling on the floor behind her. She would have only been three or four.
"Nicole," he murmured scooting down beside her. Gently he lifted her off the floor into his lap, her head flopping into his elbow. "Nicole," he called softly shaking her shoulder lightly. The little girl groaned, her hand coming up to her head, as though trying to steady it. When it fell back into her lap he noticed the red covering it, blood. Looking at her head he spotted the small gash and in an instant he healed it. Holding her as he stood he placed her on the sofa before getting a basin and a washer from his bathroom.
"You can come out now," he told Hermione on his way though. "There is no danger."
Hermione looked at him, confusion in her eyes. When he returned from the bathroom she was gone, but not far. Hermione was sitting beside the sofa with the little girl.
"Who is she?"
"My niece," he told her dipping the cloth in the warm water and wiping the drying blood off her forehead. "Help me take off the sooty robe," he said replacing the washer.
Together they lifted the feather light girl up and eased her out of the soiled clothing. Underneath she wore a pair of little white flannelette pants covered in gold little ducks that swam all over the material. Her top was a tank top, white cotton with an enlarged version of a duck from her pants in the middle which swam around in lazy circles on an invisible body of water. Her wavy hair was cut in a bob with a little clip on the side half falling out.
"Why is she here?"
"I don't know," he said honestly handing her the bowl and cloth. "That's what I'm going to find out." With that he pulled out his wand and gently tapped it to her temple.
The girl stirred, her eyes fluttering open. At first she was confused but when she looked at Severus comprehension dawned on her features.
"Uncle Severus," she signed.
"Hello Nicole," he signed back to Hermione's astonishment. He helped the little girl into a sitting position. "Why are you here?"
"Mummy said to come to your house."
"Why did mummy tell you that?"
Hermione was astonished by two things. The fact that he was signing with this little girl, his NIECE, as it was the most natural thing in the world and his compassion. Never before had she seen such caring and was that…no… it couldn't be…love? No it had to be just compassion. Etched all over his features.
"Mummy said that it would be safe here until the baddie people went away." Severus's face lost every caring emotion and became rock hard.
"Hermione I need you to look after Nicole until I come back," he hurriedly told her, jumping to his feet and striding into his bedroom. Several seconds later he returned, fully dressed.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked, concerned at his sudden change in demeanour.
"My sister sent Nicole here out of fear for her safety and their house is very well guarded. Never before has she resorted to sending her to me. It was arranged for emergencies only," he told her very quickly. "Nicole, this is Hermione. She's going to look after you until I get back, okay?" The little girl nodded her understanding as he reached for a handful of floo-powder.
Before Hermione could even say good bye he was gone in a burst of green flames. Hermione looked at the little girl. She was saying something. Her lips were moving but if there was any sound coming out she didn't know.
"I'm sorry darling, I can't hear," she told her giving her a small smile. "You'll have to sign for me to understand."
"I'm sorry," she said smiling back.
"Don't be sorry. Can you hear?" she asked curiously.
"No. But mummy taught me how to talk but I don't like to and no one understands me," she said a little sadly. "Will mummy and daddy and Sabine be alright?"
"Who is Sabine?"
"She's my big sister. Will they be alright?" she asked as unshed tears formed in her eyes and her bottom lip began to tremble.
"I'm sure your Uncle Severus will do everything he can to help them Nicole," she reassured her, moving to sit next to her on the couch. The little girl snuggled closer to her laying her head on the teenagers lap. Hermione just smiled at the trust of the little girl, gently stroking her hair.
ooOOoo
Half an hour later the little girl was asleep and Hermione was carefully carrying her to her own room and tucking her under the blankets. She looked so much like Severus. The dark hair and eyes, now tightly shut away, the thin lips. All obviously Snape family traits.
Flicking off the light Hermione moved back to the lounge room where she conjured a blanket and waited for Severus to return. Before long her eyelids grew heavy and eventually she gave into sleep.
ooOOoo
She was running down the same corridor again. Ducking into a darkened room she hid behind a tapestry. Two boys walked in, a brunette and a blonde. The spoke briefly before he turned towards her. The blonde vanished as the other approached her.
He was shaking her shoulders, not uttering a word. Hermione's eyes flew open. She was back in the sitting room. Breathing deeply she wiped her forehead on the back of her hand. As her eyes finally adjusted and her breathing slowed to a pace which she could process comprehendible thoughts she realised Severus was beside her, her hand still on her shoulder.
Slowly she sat up remembering what had happened before she went to sleep. Nicole was sleeping in her bed and she had decided to wait for Severus's return. She smiled at him briefly, her relief quickly turning to concern when he winced as he stood, his hand clutching his right side.
"What happened?" she asked standing and directing him to sit where she had previously been.
As he spoke she slowly unbuttoned his outer robes. "They were under attack. My sister and her husband were trying to fight them off to get to their older daughter," he told her, the pain hidden from her. "They had again refused to join the Dark Lord so a band of younger Death Eaters were sent to their house to, persuade them. Things got out of hand. They took the older child as she played in the garden."
"Sabine," Hermione supplied now just sitting on her knees listening to him. He nodded.
"They threatened her and her sister's life if they refused to comply. When they gave no answer they tortured her in front of them. My brother in law lost it, attacking them. He was much more skilled, one of the best duellists in Scotland but there were at least fifteen of them. He stood little chance. He managed to get is daughter away but… Narcissa sent Nicole to me to keep her safe while she went to help her husband and other daughter. She was only barely holding them off when I got there. She finally got to them but I was separated. She was disarmed and they were killed," he finished.
Hermione swallowed. He must be hurting badly but showed nothing. "Let me see where you hurt yourself," she insisted.
"It's nothing," he said realising that she had been in the process of disrobing him.
"It is. Now let me see," she told him. Reluctantly he helped her remove his robes until he was down to just his white shirt. He heard her gasp when he removed the last coat, pain slicing through his chest. One of the little blighters managed to get a good slicing charm at him.
When he looked down he saw the large red stain as it began to grow before his eyes. The coats had been thick and heavy, placing pressure on the wound and stoping it from bleeding, but now they were removed and it began to bleed.
The lounge was too small for him to lie down on, unlike Nicole, so he allowed her to lead him to his bedroom where she lay him down on the silk sheets. Within moments she was cleaning and sealing the wound. Although he would not admit it to her he was extremely grateful for her skills. That was one of, if not the only benefit of her begin friends with the Boy Wonder and his faithful sidekick. The amount of situations they got themselves into where she was required to provide some medical assistance was ridiculous. If he had to do it himself he would have to us a potion, unable to perform spells on himself at that angle. The potion would have been painful and awkward to apply and left him with a scar.
Before he knew it she had removed his bloodied shirt, shoes and socks and was gently cleaning his skin with a cloth like he had done to Nicole, working in small circles, easing the drying blood away.
"Does it hurt?" she asked finally.
"Not anymore," he told her. "Thank-you," he said, giving her a rare smile if it could be called that, a slight tilting of the side of the mouth.
"You're welcome," she told him. When she returned from the bathroom he was getting out of bed. "Where do you think you are going?" she asked.
"To the couch, Nicole is in your bed."
"No you don't," she told him gently pushing him back into bed. "You will sleep in a bed tonight. You need to heal."
"You need to sleep in a bed. You have had little sleep and it is impolite for me to let you sleep on the couch."
"If you don't get at least some sleep you will be snarky. Not that you aren't always," she added, her only reply a scowl but she continued undeterred, "but you have a little girl whom you need to speak to tomorrow and explain that her mummy and family aren't coming back."
"I have slept in worse paces than a couch," he told her still unmoving from his stance on things.
"Fine then. We'll both sleep here," she told him.
"You'll WHAT?" he asked, shocked at the turn of things.
"We will both sleep in your bed, it is big enough and we are both old enough and too tired to do anything other than sleep," she told him as moved around to the other side of the bed and slipping in. "Good night," she said extinguishing the lights and tucking her wand under his pillow.
Severus blinked at her forwardness. She just told him that she was going to be sleeping in his bed and just got in. No discussion. Talk about domineering. Severus shrugged. He was tired and sore and knew if he was to sleep on the couch he would be even worse in the morning. Although he didn't like to admit it she was right, as always, they were old enough, in theory, for nothing to happen and they were both extremely tired.
Sliding under the blankets he moved for quite a while before he found a position which allowed him to sleep almost pain free.
ooOOoo
As Hermione stirred under the covers she felt secure, not wanting to leave this peace, this security. Eventually, when she could fight it no more, she opened her eyes and attempted to roll over but did not. There was an arm draped heavily over her stomach. Moving her arm nothing happened. It was only when she felt the chest pressed against her back that she recalled what had happened last night.
Carefully lifting the offending arm away she slipped out of the bed smiling to herself, allowing a moment to watch the man she had slept beside sleep. His face was peaceful, the harsh lines gone or at least softened somewhat.
Sneaking out of the room went into her own room, checking on the still peacefully sleeping girl, snuggled beneath the multitude of blankets. Slipping into the adjoining bathroom she ran a shower, a strange sense of peace covering her.
ooOOoo
Nicole had been devastated by the death of her family. Although young she was very mature. She understood the implications of death and that they were never coming back.
After Severus told her in the morning she had spent a good hour crying before Hermione had been able to drag her out of bed and into the lounge room. She didn't talk much, just sat there. Hermione and Severus had spent the afternoon with her instead of in the lab.
It didn't take long before she was playing about and talking once more. Although Nicole didn't know it, she wasn't able to stay. Severus had informed Hermione that he was given temporary custody before she was moved in with a new family. It was simply inappropriate and dangerous to have a child running around the dungeons with no form of supervision during the day.
The only reason she was staying at the moment was because he was her only living relative and Hermione, being cooped up all day had little else to do.