Severus ran, as fast as he possibly could. The sound of his boots echoing through the brightly lit halls that had shadowed his youth. He could see her, Lily, just before him. Smiling back at him, her laughter ringing like bells through the empty hall.
"Lily! Wait! I can't run as fast as you!"
"With those long legs! It's a wonder I can beat you at all!"
"Lily!" Severus pushed himself harder though it felt as though he was trying to run through pudding. The harder he pushed, the more the world around him pushed back. His heart beat hard against his ribs as she disappeared through the bright light of an archway that he knew somehow lead to the courtyard. He could see her just beyond beside the fountain. Laughing, waiting for him.
As soon as his feet passed the threshold the world turned dark. The sky as black as ink, filled with fire and ash of destruction. Severus found himself standing in the ruins of a great battle. Upon grounds he never believed himself to stand. Fire burned all around him but he could not see it over the broken fountain before him. Laid as though fallen like an angel.
"Granger..." Severus felt his world spinning, the darkness and flames growing around him, tunneling his path towards the fountain. An eerie wind blew, bringing light to the mask on her face, the blood of make-up dripping down into the black waters beneath. Her hair, her soft curls stretched matted and dripping. Each fall of the drop like a clock ticking down. Her hand that had taken to his scars so kindly, open and unmoving, laying at an impossible angle beneath her stone-held form.
Each step felt heavier than the last, his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. He knew she was not with him anymore. Yet still, foolishly like a child, he believed that he could do something. Anything.
It was all his fault.
Severus' eyes snapped open with a choking breath. His hand shot out to the space beside him, normally met with a grunt or groan from the woman who had become a fixture in his bed he only found the coolness of abandoned sheets. Pushing himself up, he looked around the room for wherever she might have gone. First towards the bathroom, then the fireplace, then the window.
It had been three days since he had shown her his reason. Though not completely, he had given her enough to slate her thirst for knowledge, for now. She hadn't said anything after he'd finished. Merely, squeezed his hand and turned away. She'd been exceptionally cowed ever since. Either reading a random book or looking through the papers she'd stolen from the market. She'd not given him any opinions on either.
His feet hit the cold floor, moving towards the office. The one last place to look. When he opened the door his blood ran cold for a moment, nothing but darkness greeted him. He moved far enough to know that she wasn't there either and turned back into their room with haste. Moving towards his closet he pushed through his meager selection of coats to find the one he'd given her. Made for her—there.
His mind began to turn when the smallest of sounds, ticked at his ear. At first, he thought it almost to be himself, then it came again. It took him only a moment to locate the sound to the chest at the foot of the bed. The latches unlocked. His heart sinking back down from his throat he moved closer, pulling open the lid. The sound came again and he knew he'd found her.
Hermione hissed when her hand connected awkwardly on the punching bag she'd been abusing for hours. Unable to sleep, she'd gone into the one place where she felt some sort of comfort. It was odd to her how a confined space felt safe, but she'd stopped questioning it. Acceptance was the key to healing, even if she disagreed with the images her mind produced every night, she could at the very least release the pain they brought in a more productive manner than she had been.
A movement caught her eye and she turned, "I didn't mean to wake you..." Her brow rose at his obvious state of dishevelment, "Are you alright?"
"Why are you down here?"
"Couldn't sleep." Hermione massaged her hand, running her eyes down his chest, bringing a bit of pink to her already flushed cheeks, "Seems like you couldn't either." She took a few more steps. Having worn only a chest compress and her training pants, she could feel his restraint at not looking over her skin, "Care to join me?"
"Hitting a bag of sand?" Severus' jaw twitched.
"It's cathartic." Hermione grinned just a little before taking his wrist, "Come on."
Severus allowed himself to be led closer, the image of her bloody broken body still in the forefront of his mind. Was it prophetic? Or simply his fears of what he'd done to her? It was impossible to tell. His head turned down when she began to wrap something around his hands, forcing them into fists but leaving his fingers free, if not bent.
"Aim with your first two knuckles and you won't break your hand." Hermione smiled softly raising her own to show him what she meant, "Then. Follow through with your hips." Her hands lowered down to his angled waist turning him towards the bag, "And punch."
Severus gave her a small look, nothing that held any heat as she slipped behind him. He'd helped her train of course, though mostly stretching and strength building. She'd kicked his arse one or two times but he'd tried to avoid any physical combat as much as he could. It just wasn't his way.
"What is the purpose of this?"
"To exhaust the muscles so that the mind can no longer think in circles." Hermione chuckled dryly pulling her wand from a catch she had in the back of her pants. Conjuring another bag took only a moment and she found herself standing beside him, "I promise, it helps."
"Right." Severus looked down at his wrapped hands, flexing his fingers slowly before bringing them in tight. He turned his eyes toward the bag before striking out as quick as a viper. A sharp pain ran up his arm and he couldn't stop the look from crossing his face.
Hermione chuckled into the back of her hand, raising her brow at his obvious discomfort, "Did you expect it to be soft?"
"Shut it." Severus rarely resorted to childish language but he couldn't stand the smirk on her lips.
Hermione suppressed her chuckle before raising her own hands, "Do it in groups of three, it'll hurt less." Hermione narrowed her eyes doing just of which she spoke, putting a rather impressive dent into the bag as she hit the same spot with extraordinary accuracy.
A small sneer and a mocking bob of his head before she turned to look at him put his eyes back front. He raised his fists like hers before hitting the bag thrice. His teeth ground when he pulled his hand back. She was a liar.
Hermione lowered her eyes with a grin, moving away from her bag she came to stand beside him, "You're trying to use your entire fist." She pulled his hand back to his side putting her fingers on his two first knuckles, "Imagine a line that runs from your shoulder to the tip of your index finger." Her fingers traced the invisible line, not missing the fact that her finger raised the fine dusting of hair over his arm, "Then, use that line to decide where you want to strike." She pulled his hand out slowly running her own over top, "See how your first knuckle completes the line?"
Severus nodded his head, though his mind was far from focused on her instruction. Still, he was a man of discipline. One more thing for him to master wouldn't be too difficult. He gave her a small shake off his arm before raising his hands again. This time, he heeded her instruction more carefully and found the results to be of night and day. When he lowered his hands he felt a twitch in the muscle of his upper arm.
"Tired already?" Hermione took her place back at her post, pulling out her wand sheath from the pocket of her pants, "I've learned something while being down here during the night." She gave him a cheeky look as she pulled her wand out from behind her and into the sheath.
Severus tilted his head with a raised brow, leaning himself on the punching bag with crossed arms. This was the most he'd seen her smile at him in what felt like weeks. The visage was doing a very good job of removing the sight of blood dripping down her face from his inner eye.
Hermione raised her fists, then with only a small glance—she struck, the bag before her being sent flying into the far corner before exploding with impressive force from the spell that had followed it.
Severus had tried to conceal the jump her strike had elicited but it was in vain. His body went straight as he started to understand just what she had been doing down here all this time, "Wandless magic."
"Wandless indeed." Hermione lowered her hands turning her body back towards his own, "I think I'm tired enough now to sleep..."
"Then let's go to bed." Severus vanished the wraps from his hands with a small wave of his fingers. To say he was impressed would be an understatement but what concerned him was just what she planned to do with her new found ability.
"That's the best idea I've heard in a long while." Hermione banished away her own wraps with her wand before slipping it back into its catch. She gave him what could only have been called a woman's come-hither look as she passed, a slow grin ticking at her lips when she felt him come to be her shadow.
"Merlin save us all..." Severus shook his head before making to move. Turning back one more time to look at the destruction she'd left behind.
oOo
Hermione took in a deep breath, the warmth beneath her cheek tickling her senses. Her rest had been blissfully dreamless. Her body too exhausted to do anything else. The slow rise and fall of her pillow began to alert her that the warmth that was running through her frame was not just her own and her eyelashes began to flutter.
Pale alabaster skin, rigid with lines and valleys came into view. Her fingers traced over one of the lines that she had often taken fascination with. The skin of it was so smooth, impossibly smooth, and she could feel the beat of his heart through it. A heavy sigh raised her head and her sleep-heavy eyes looked down at the man still caught inside the Dreamweaver's web.
A small shift of her leg that had settled between his brought it over to the other side of his hip. Her arms pushing her body up to rest over his stomach. She was surprised that she'd made the shift at all without waking him, but she could tell by the full relaxation on his face that he was deeply lost inside the darkness of rest. She had no idea why she had brought herself into such a...provacotive position. It had never once before crossed her mended mind.
He had returned as he had come, shirtless wearing only his cotton sleeping pants. She had put on one of his shirts before she'd crawled beside him. They had gone to sleep apart, but as was the case in recent months, they had found their way into the other's arms.
The warmth of his body between her legs brought a flush down her neck. It wasn't the first time his touch had ignited something carnal inside her but it was the first time where it was her choice to feel it. Her hands moved slowly over his chest, feeling his breath beneath her feather-light touch.
Severus' eyes snapped open as soon as her fingers had reached his throat. His hands coming up to take hold of her arms in a crushing grip, folding her shoulders in on themselves trapping the air in her chest. His brow furrowed in deep confusion at the position he had woke to find them in.
Hermione's mouth opened and closed dumbly for a moment, unable to explain herself. "I uh...was just...getting up..."
"You're a horrible liar..." Severus relaxed his hold with a heavy sigh, pressing his head back into the pillow as she moved off of him.
He pushed his legs over the edge of the bed, his head hanging down into his hands. Hermione, meanwhile, took a seat on her legs watching the muscles of stress wind up like cords over his ribbed back. She knew it had been wrong when she'd done it and the guilt showed exceptionally well on her face, "I'm sorry..."
Hermione let out a small sigh of her own pushing herself from the other side of the bed towards the window. She jumped slightly when the door to the bathroom slammed shut, her eyes filling with tears at the idiocy of her behavior. The idleness of inaction was starting to grate on her nerves. Pulling her to do things that she knew well better than to do.
oOo
Draco closed the blades on the scissors very carefully before picking up a piece of the bifurcated hair that he had kept in his possession so long. Waiting, biding his time and resources so that he could finally brew a proper batch of polyjuice potion. He had had his suspicions about his Godfather's allegiance for some time now but if he was going to challenge a man like that, he'd need to have something to prove.
He had had to bribe the castle elves to gather what he'd needed. That in combination with his slight of hand during potions lessons he'd managed to make a very competent brew. Hiding his actions away in the Slytherin Quidditch locker room as the sport had been banned, no one had been out that way since the term had begun.
Pouring a small bit of the potion into an old shot glass he'd found stashed away in the common room he dropped the hair inside, watching the brew accept it. The amount he'd taken would only keep him changed for at the most fifteen minutes. Enough time for him to take a look at whatever secret Snape was hiding away in his chambers.
A sharp gasp shook his chest when he swallowed down the potion. He forced his eyes towards the mirror as he watched his pale hair turn brown. His broad shoulders crack and shrink. His eyes turned dark, a band of burnt flesh scarring his shifting features. His jaw smoothing changing forming into that of a woman.
"No...Impossible..." Draco's voice quivered in the air as the transformation completed. His clothes that had fit proper, loose around his body. His hands rose to his chest, an instinct really before he turned his head down to look at himself. He had watched her die, he had been sure that night. Her body, laid open by the man who his father had come to deal with. Although, it was now more curious that his Godfather should have appeared and that her hair had been on his robes...
His head rose again, his alien brown eyes narrowing, his slightly pouted lips curved tight, "Granger."
oOo
Hermione pulled the bag that she'd been filling over to the edge of the bed, her actions having been discrete until the man who had been busy in the office came through the door unexpectedly. Her chest puffed up as his brow rose and she turned without guilt on her face though it did weigh in her heart.
"Going somewhere?"
"You said I wasn't a prisoner." Her chin rose, fully expecting the fight that was sure to come.
"I did. That doesn't explain what you are doing now." Severus folded his arms over his chest finding her renewed recklessness refreshing to the soul-crushing introspection that had been plaguing her in the days that had past.
"I won't be going alone." Hermione licked her bottom lip pulling the bag over her shoulder, "You're coming with me."
Severus snorted coming from the doorway, "In what dream have you caught yourself in?"
"Not physically of course." Hermione rolled her eyes and pushed past him into the office. She'd fully dressed but hadn't yet put on the make-up over her face. Having decided that using a magical glamour could have its downsides, she decided to switch to more muggle means. She'd kindly asked the house elf that had tended to her in his absence to find whatever she could and bring it to the office knowing that Snape didn't like them about in the chambers.
"Must you speak in riddles?" He followed her of course, his curiosity leading his feet if nothing else.
"I've made something." Hermione smiled when she saw the small make-up box sitting on the corner of his desk. She pulled her bag into his chair before reaching into her cloak pocket to pull out a small ear cuff and ring, "I hope I got the size right." She leaned on the edge of the desk showing him the ring.
"What does it do?"
"It allows me to speak with you and for you to speak with me." Hermione held out her hand for his after slipping the cuff over her ear. A serpent by design, the tail curled around the shell, two small emerald eyes shining against the silver. When he put his hand in hers, she showed him the ring she'd made, a simple band with a small red stone inlaid inside. It had been quite a feat but she'd managed.
She raised his hand up, pushing his fingers apart with her own before pushing the band around the middle, a soft smile curling her lips when it fit perfectly. The moment was broken when the door to the office slammed open, the charm that had been meant to warn of visitors ringing too late to be of use. Severus moved quick, coming to stand in front of her despite the wall of illusion he'd had in place.
"Draco?"
"You're a right bastard." Draco had his wand already drawn, pointed yet trembling, "I now know the words you have put into my head are lies."
Severus' brow furrowed, it was clear the boy was upset, but his mind was bouncing erratically; it was hard for him to get a clear picture as to what had upset him this time. His wand did slip into his hand but he knew he had to tread very carefully. There was always a possibility that the Dark Lord had sent him to test his loyalties.
"You were there that night." Draco tapped his finger hard against his own temple, "I can see you so clearly now."
Severus let the breath leave his chest, his wand resting against his arms that he crossed, "That is not a secret."
"Ah, yes. Father was very mouthy about it. But what I couldn't get out of him was the reason we would have seen you there." Draco continued his advance, his pale face flushed with his anger.
"You seem to have acquired your father's thick skull and your mother's tongue, not an admirable combination." The draw of his voice made the woman behind the veil chuckle.
"How many have you bought? Do you know what the Dark Lord will do to you? To know whom you bought?" Draco was stopped in his path by the man who he had come to accuse. His head nearly level with the man's own. His sharp blue eyes falling into the darkness of his former mentor.
Severus' jaw twitched with the mere stupidity of the child before him. What he had thought might have been a test by the Dark Lord was simply the simpers of a child who did not understand anything about the world around them. How he wanted to lower the veil himself and show him, how useless his crusade was. Unfortunately, he wasn't given the honor.
Draco hit the floor with a heavy thump, his wand clattering against the stone before rolling under Hermione's boot that had come to stop its path, "Seems I should make myself scarce for a while."
"Quite." Severus sighed heavily, frowning deeply at the unconscious blond.