I know it's been a while since I last updated, but I haven't given up on it yet.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
After what seemed like an eternity, Hermione was finally allowed to return to her room. She was glad that it was the weekend because she wanted to sleep for two days. She hoped that her nightmares were finally gone. During her stay in the infirmary, she slept twice and she didn't have that awful dream. The first time was when she was brought there. Hermione was told that professor Snape brought her there when she collapsed at the Halloween party, but she couldn't remember him at all. She remembered getting there and seeing him, but past that, nothing. The second time she slept, she dreamt of her family. When she woke up, she had tears in her eyes. She couldn't remember the last time she dreamt of something else other than him.
When she got to her tower, she was surprised to find that all of her friends were waiting for her. Ginny was writing a letter, Neville was reading a book while Draco and Luna were playing a game of chess. Draco was so concentrated on the game that he didn't see Hermione come in. Luna on the other hand, jumped from her seat as soon as Hermione opened the door. She guessed that Draco was losing again.
"Hermione!" Luna almost yelled and all the others came to join the two girls. They formed a big hug with Hermione at the center, leaving her with little room to breathe.
"Guys, I can't breathe!" she whispered amused. She was happy that she had friends who cared about her the way they did. The biggest surprise was Malfoy. She still couldn't believe that she thought of him as her friend. And she knew that the others also liked him, especially Luna. Since her birthday, the two began to spend more and more time together. At first, she was worried about Neville, but when Ginny told her that he made a move on Hannah Abbott at the Halloween party, her worries dissipated.
"Sorry, Hermione, but we were worried about you." Ginny explained as they parted.
"Yes, why didn't you tell us about the nightmares?" Neville asked. "Maybe we would have been able to help somehow." He continued.
"I don't know, at first I thought it will come to pass. Only after a week I began to worry. But by then I wanted to take care of it on my own." Hermione explained.
"Terrible things, those hags. I remember when I was little and I got mine, I couldn't stop dreaming about rats." Luna started.
"Rats? Why rats?" Draco asked.
"Well hags love to feed on our deepest fears. Back then, I dreaded rats." Luna explained.
For Hermione, it didn't make any sense. She didn't fear professor Snape and she wasn't little. From what she heard, those creatures only affect children. She was clearly not a child. "But how is it possible for a hag to affect me? I am not a child."
"Maybe someone hexed you?" Neville tried.
"Nobody hexed me lately." Hermione replied.
"Some say hags can affect adults if they come in contact with a child who has it." Ginny told them.
"The flu! I had to help madam Pomfrey administer the cure to the flu. There were some children there. One of them must have had it!" Hermione then realized. "But no one fainted like I did." She voiced her thoughts.
"They are not supposed to." Luna added. "Children come in contact with lots of other children. The hag jumps around and preys on their small fears until they are bored. They usually go away fast. Mine stayed for about two days."
"But then why did mine last so long?" Hermione asked as she took a seat on the couch.
"Maybe it couldn't jump to another person?" Neville guessed.
"Or maybe it didn't want to." Draco tried. "Maybe it wasn't bored yet."
"But it played the same nightmare for weeks, nothing changed. It must have been bored." Hermione replied and everybody fell silent.
"I don't fear rats anymore." Luna started out of the nowhere a few minutes later.
"I'm glad to hear that, Luna" Hermione smiled. She couldn't see where she was going with this.
"No, the hag gets bored because the child doesn't have that fear anymore. After the second night, I came to understand that there is nothing to fear about rats. There is nothing they can do to harm me so there is nothing to fear. The hag then went away." Luna explained.
"Hermione, you never said, what were your nightmares about?" Ginny then asked as if the answer to that question would answer all of their questions.
Hermione thought for a second. She knew she didn't fear Snape so the hag couldn't prey on that, but then why did she dream of him? Each night, she tried to save him. She didn't let go. She was afraid. She was afraid of him dying. She was afraid of losing him. She then realized she was still afraid of that. So why did the hag go away then?
"The war." Hermione answered. "I dreamt of all those losses." She lied and the room went quiet once more.
"Anyway, the hag is gone and I am free to dream of whatever I like" Hermione broke the silence. "So tell me, what did I miss while I was in the infirmary?"
They chuckled. "Draco managed to win against Luna for once." Ginny told her.
"I still don't know how I did it, but I'm not complaining." Draco told them proudly.
"I was distracted by a Moon Frog" Luna explained casually and they started laughing.
"So what are you guys doing this weekend?" Hermione asked while yawning.
"We were planning on sticking around." Ginny told her while looking around to the others.
"If you are thinking on sticking around only to watch over me or something, you can forget it." Hermione laughed. "I will spend these days sleeping. So please, go away and have some fun." She told them. She really didn't want to see them waste a good weekend looking after her when she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.
"But Hermione, what if –"Neville started, but Hermione interrupted him.
"No 'if', Neville. I mean it. I don't want you guys here all weekend. I'm sure you have better things to do. Like meeting your boyfriend" she said as she looked at Ginny ant they all chuckled. They all knew how much the red headed girl missed Harry.
"Ok, but please let us know if there's anything wrong" Ginny told Hermione.
"There won't be, but ok" Hermione smiled.
When Hermione woke up the next morning, she was alone. She loved spending time with her friends, but sometimes she enjoyed spending some time alone. Today she was glad that there was nobody there. As she expected, her nightmares have stopped, so she finally felt rested and she was filled with energy.
After breakfast, she returned to her room and finished her Transfiguration paper. Later that day, she paid Hagrid a visit. She helped him feed some of his amazing creatures and then she decided to return to the castle. She didn't want to return to her room already so she headed to her favorite place, the Astronomy Tower. It was a chilly November evening and as soon as she got to the top, she regretted her choice of clothes. Her muggle shirt did nothing to keep her warm against the cold wind so she charmed a small rock into a blanket and she sat on the cold floor, back against the wall, blanket wrapped tight around her. A few minutes later, she fell asleep.
"Do you really want to go back to the infirmary?" someone asked and Hermione turned to see Snape stepping out of the shadows.
"Whatever do you mean by that?" she asked confused.
Snape crossed the space between them and he was now standing tall in front of her. "You are obviously cold." He told her in his deep voice.
"I am not." She retorted coldly and she turned her back on him to gaze at the moon once more.
"Your body says otherwise." He continued. Snape could see her trembling.
"My body is not – "she started, but she stopped involuntarily when she felt a warm heavy coat on her shoulders. He was right, she was indeed cold. Hermione looked down. The heavy coat was too big on her and it was spread on the cold floor. She then realized that it was his own coat.
Hermione took hold of the piece of wool and she tightened around her. "Thank you." She finally let out and she heard him take a step closer to her. She could feel his breath on the back of her head and she started to breathe heavily. Hermione didn't know what was happening.
Snape put his hands on her shoulders and they both didn't move for a moment. He waited for her to reject him, to turn and leave, but she did nothing of a kind, instead, she just sat there, unsure of what to do. He then proceeded and drove his hands up and down her arms trying to take the chill off her while he put his chin on top of her head. In a moment, his gesture turned into a bear hug and Hermione was at a loss for words.
"Thank you." He whispered in her ear.
"What for?" Hermione finally managed to say.
"For saving me." He replied curt.
Hermione immediately woke up. She dreamt of him again. Not the nightmare she had before. No, this time it was nice, but it didn't feel like a dream, it felt more like a déjà-vu.
She didn't know how long she stayed there, but by the time she decided to go back, she needed lumos to make it through the dark corridors. She was just about to turn left to the corridor that held her dorm when she was almost knocked over by someone. She didn't have to look up to see who it was. She grew accustomed to those encounters.
"Miss Granger," the professor started slowly. "I see that you miss your detention with me" he started as he looked at the girl. She looked much better than before. The dark bags under her eyes were gone and she seemed healthier.
"Not exactly, sir. Only the brewing part of it." She heard herself saying.
Snape looked at her surprised. Did she really say that she missed detention? "Well then, you know the drill." He told her and he stormed off, still surprised by her reaction. The truth was, he started to enjoy having someone there, helping him with the boring chores like brewing a pepper-up potion. It's only for that, he told himself.
Hermione watched as he disappeared into the darkness. She was glad to see that everything returned to normal. She accepted the detention because that also felt normal somehow. And due to the fact that she enjoyed brewing potions for him; she liked to help.
When she entered the common room, she let herself fall on the couch in front of the fireplace. With a swing of her wand, the fire came on and the room suddenly filled with warmth. She took a glance at the watch above the fireplace. It was only eight thirty pm and she felt tired. She was about to get up and go to her room when realization dawned on her. She immediately stormed off.
It took her about five minutes to reach her destination. She was so outraged, that she entered without knocking. He was at his desk, looking over some papers, as always. He didn't even raise his head as she entered
"Miss Granger, to what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked as he finally looked at her. He could see that she was angry.
"It's… eight… thirty." She managed to say. She ran to the dungeons as soon as she realized and now she was panting.
Severus knew that he wasn't supposed to give her detention because she didn't break any rules. He thought she might brush him off on the spot and he wanted to clarify things there, but she surprised him so he let it go. He was then curious to see how long it would take for her to figure it out.
"So it seems." He finally said as he quickly glanced at the watch.
"And you don't have anything to say?" she asked as she walked over to his desk.
"You should have knocked." He told her calmly. He would not apologize.
"I should not have been given detention!" she almost yelled.
"You weren't given detention." Snape peacefully replied and he got up from his chair.
"But you said – "she started he interrupted her.
"You said that you missed brewing so I assumed the small amount of brewing you are requested to do in class was not enough for you. In that case, I merely gave you the opportunity to practice your skills outside the class. Now, if that's not what you ask…" he told her as he got closer to her. He already knew her response.
Hermione was shocked. Was he really offering her the opportunity to learn more or was he just trying to use her in his advantage? The truth was she didn't care. "Monday at seven?" she asked.
Severus smirked. "Sharp."