As dawn emerged, Hermione began to stir again. She found a curled up, sleeping Snape, back to her, and was reassured by his presence. The first thing she noted was the long rip in the back of his shredded coat and the dried blood surrounding it. She tried to replay the scene in her mind as best she could remember it. Then she turned her attention back to Snape and watched him sleeping peacefully. Gently, she removed the remaining thorns from his flesh and repaired his shirt and coat. Hermione noticed a subtle change in his breathing.
"Professor?" she inquired softly.
Without opening his eyes or turning toward her, he responded, "Miss Granger. Good to hear that you have finally awakened. Now, would you be so good as to tell me who has won."
"I have no idea," she said.
With a soft grunt of a murmur, he rolled onto his back. His eyes still closed, he wanted to know, "How was it that you came to land on me?"
"Land on you?" she mirrored.
"Yes," he opened his eyes and turned his attention in her direction.
Hermione let out a gasp, "Oh, Professor, your eyes!"
"Yes, I cannot see, so you will tell me what you see," Snape spat.
She took a quick observation, "Your eyes are covered with some kind of thick, opaque film. It's almost like a cataract. My auntie had really bad cataracts before a surgeon cut them off."
At that, Snape shuddered, "Nobody is cutting on my eyes!"
"What happened to you out there?" she asked.
"I was fighting LeStrange when I was hit from the back with a slicing curse, then by LeStrange nearly at the same time from the front. The world was consummate pain then all went black. When I awoke, the cut was healed at least on the surface, but everything else was still quite disjointed. It was close, so I crawled toward the Forbidden Forest until I found a thicket and slipped inside to wait for things to clear. I must have lost consciousness again, for when I awoke you were lying on top of me," he finished. "I apparated us to the shack in Hogsmeade until we could determine what to do next. Of the Dark Lord's forces, only Wormtail knows of this place."
"I remember being at the edge of the grounds near the Forest when I was hit by something very powerful. It lifted me off my feet and must have thrown me into the thicket where you were. It probably drove those thorns further into your back, too. I suppose the attacker either thought I was dead from the impact or would be incapacitated and did not bother to finish me off," she added to the growing body of what they together knew.
"That still does not answer the main question of which side won," Snape stared with blank eyes at the ceiling.
Hermione lay back down next to him and stared as well. After some silence, she added, "Thank you for getting me out of there in one piece, sir."
"You're welcome," he said softly without moving an inch. "…And thank you for the repair work just now."
"You're welcome. So, what are we going to do?" she wanted to know.
"Sh. I'm thinking, Miss Granger," he put fingers to his mouth.
Hermione was not one to lie about quietly for too long when she felt work should be done, "I'm going out to see what I can see."
"That would be inadvisable, Miss Granger," Snape cautioned.
"Why?"
"If the Dark Lord has won, you would be a 'toy' to be played with. And, Miss Granger, I assure you, he plays exceedingly roughly with his 'toys,'" Snape spoke in low dangerous tones.
Hermione was up and pacing around the room. She tried peeking out the boarded-over windows.
"I can't see anything from here," she grumbled. "I can barely see the street here at the edge of town."
Snape sat up on the bed, "Miss Granger, you will lead me back to the castle via the tunnel that comes out in the roots of the Whomping Willow. We will do this when it gets dark."
"That means staying here for the whole day!" she blustered.
"What, and my company is so bad?" he smirked.
Hermione hung her head, "That's not what I meant, sir."
Snape nodded his head, trying to look in her general direction.
"I'm hungry," she announced quietly.
"As am I," Snape responded and stood. "Is there a table in here?"
"Yes, sir," she moved to him and brought him to the little table.
He felt the edges and then pulled out his wand, "Here, then, tea and biscuits. I'm afraid you will have to pour."
Hermione led him to a chair and brought him something to eat, "I'm sorry to be such a…"
He waved her off, "Sh, Miss Granger, no need to apologize. Enjoy your tea."
She handed him a cup with a biscuit on the side. He fumbled with it a moment before finding his mouth. It was most distressing suddenly not being able to see. He hid his anxiety well, as only an accomplished spy could.
When they had finished, Hermione asked, "Sir, will you let me look at your eyes? Maybe there is something I can do."
Snape grumbled something then, "You can try, but I doubt it will do any good. I fear this will take the skilled healers at St. Mungo's some time to sort out and repair, if at all."
"Lumos!" commanded Hermione.
After examining his eyes, she regretted it, "Okay, we need to get you to a healer, sir."
Snape harrumphed quietly but said nothing out loud.