Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.

I'm not a native speaker of English!

Thanks a lot to my wonderful beta, saiyanwizardgurl, for correcting my mistakes.

Dear readers,

Chapter 3 of 4 for you today. I asked my beta to correct the other new story as well and so I'm not sure if I can upload the next chapter before I leave for vacation. It's not even sure that I can leave for my journey to Norway because my tonsilitis isn't getting better even with penicillin. :(

I cleaned my profil and now all the infos to the characters of my stories (not all at the moment) are on seperated journal on my livejournal account. You can find the links to the info sites on my profile page here.

Sunny

Chapter 3 – Help from Ms. Granger

Ten minutes later, Molly came into the room with a bowl of cold water and some clothes. Severus just moaned in his sleep when she adjusted the compresses and bathed his hot face with a cool cloth.

"How do you feel?" she asked Hermione when she came over to her bed.

"I'm fine. Just a little tired. Can I help you?"

Molly sighed. "It would better if you stayed in bed, but I need to lower his temperature and make supper for us all. Maybe you could change his compress from time to time and wipe his face until I come back. If he wakes and makes trouble, just call me. I'll leave the door open so that I can hear you in the kitchen."

"Did you find the medicine?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"Yes, I found it, but it's for children. I will discuss it with Severus when he wakes up. Maybe it will help a little, but I will leave it to him to decide. Just call me when he wakes." Molly placed a small bottle and two medicine packages on the night table before she left for the kitchen.

Hermione had just started to change Severus' compress for the second time when he woke up. "What are you doing Ms. Granger?" he asked, startled at her presence.

"I'm changing your compress, Professor. Mrs. Weasley is cooking and asked me to take care of you," Hermione said fearfully, seeing the look of horror in the professor's eyes.

"Take care of me? I don't need you to take care of me," he hissed, but his voice cracked and he grabbed for his throat.

Hermione did not know how she did it, but she stayed calm. "Please, Professor, you have to calm down. You are hurting your throat. Drink this," Hermione said as she cautiously held a cup of tea in his direction.

Severus stared at her. I'm in hell. The little know-it-all is worried about me and wants to help me. How will I survive this?

"Please, Professor, you should drink. I will call Mrs. Weasley so that she can discuss the medications with you," Hermione said.

Finally, Severus took the cup and drank some tea. It soothed his throat. Molly must have put some honey in it, Severus thought thankfully.

Hermione went to the door and called for Mrs. Weasley. She only managed to call once before she passed out.

"What did you think you were doing, letting her out of bed ?" Severus spat while Molly lifted the unconscious Hermione into her bed.

"I had to cook, Severus."

"She will worsen her condition if she stresses herself," Severus managed to say, but his voice broke several times while he spoke.

"Stop talking, Severus, or you won't have a voice for the next few days."

Just hearing the words 'next few days' made Severus shiver. Merlin, how long do we have to live like this?

"I have to discuss this medicine with you. So save the rest of your voice for this and not for arguing about something we cannot change. I will need Hermione's help to take care of you while I have to check on her parents and cook." Molly came over to his bed and sat down on it. Severus scooted closer to the wall. "I don't bite, Severus. Maybe you remember that I helped Poppy nurse you back to health a few times before?"

He rolled his eyes. "You had to rub that under my nose?"

This time Molly rolled her eyes. "Just behave, Severus. You wouldn't be giving Hermione a good example. We both want her to get healthy as soon as possible so that I can leave to get help, right?"

"Yes," Severus gritted out through clenched teeth.

"Okay. Look at this. It's all I could find for you. This is an antibiotic for children that could help with your tonsillitis, but I'm not sure if it would have any effect on an adult. Then there's a painkiller that will help to lower your fever. And this gargling mixture," Molly said as she showed him the packages and the small bottle on the night table.

"The antibiotic is useless. I had tonsillitis as a child, and I survived without an antibiotic. My immune system will be able to fight it. The painkiller is good. I will take it, but you cannot expect me to gargle in front of Ms. Granger." Severus glared challenging at Molly.

"Why not?"

"Why not? Are you daft, woman? Where would I spit it?"

Molly just held up the bucket she had place beside his bed.

"No," he protested.

"Yes. No arguing about it." Her tone was as stern as Poppy's, and his mouth dropped open. "That's the first step." She pressed the glass of the gargle mixture into his hands.

"But Molly," he pleaded. Seeing her glare at him, he stopped arguing and gargled. It tasted awful. With a face read like a tomato, he lay back in his bed after spitting the mixture in the bucket.

"Open up," Molly ordered and put the thermometer in his mouth. "Hmm. Your temperature is rising," she stated. After placing a cool cloth on his head, she said, "Try to sleep, Severus. Arguing doesn't help your condition. Hermione is glad to help you. Don't push her away. I will need all the help I can get." When he fell asleep a few seconds later, she went back to cooking.

Hermione woke to the Potions Master trashing from side to side. Carefully, she went over to him and rinsed the cool cloth that had fallen. "Professor, everything is okay. You have to calm down." She gently spoke to him softly and tried to still him.

Severus woke with a jolt. The world around him was blurry, and he could hear Ms. Granger's voice, but it was muffled. He had the feeling his ears—no, his whole head—was stuffed with cotton wool. The cool cloth on his head felt good, and he sighed.

"I will change your compress now. Please don't fight me," Hermione said, worried.

He did not fight her, but he shivered when the cool cloths touched his skin.

"I know it feels awful, but it will help your fever." She sat down on his bed and looked worriedly at his unfocused eyes. "You have to rest, Professor." Concerned by his lack of response, she started to sing uneasily. Her mother had done this often when she was ill, and it always felt so good. Minutes later, he had fallen asleep again.

"Hermione, really, you shouldn't stress yourself so much," Molly scolded slightly as she came into the room with a tray of two bowls and spoons and a steaming pot of chicken soup.

"But he was having a nightmare, and I fear his fever is spiking. He wasn't really awake, I think." Hermione went over to her bed and took a full bowl of soup with her. "Mmm, that smells good, Mrs. Weasley."

"Please eat as much as you can. I will check on Severus." Molly was worried when he did not wake up as she took his temperature. It was 39.7°C now. Still not mortal peril, so she could not use magic. Sighing, she shook his shoulder. "Severus, I need you to wake up. Just for a short while."

He opened his eyes with much effort. Everything was a blur, and he could hardly hear Molly. He did not protest when she coaxed him to take two of the pain killers and fell asleep the moment after.

Two hours later, Severus awoke. His head was a little clearer. He heard soft snoring and turned in the direction of Hermione's bed. The girl was fully awake and staring at him. Puzzled, he looked for the cause of the snoring and found Molly lying on the mattress on the floor, fast asleep. The moment he had averted his eyes from the girl to look at Molly, Hermione had walked over to him.

"She is very exhausted. We should let her sleep," she said while sitting down on his bed. "Will you let me check your temperature?" she asked while holding up the thermometer to hover in front of his mouth. Hermione smiled happily at him when he did not complain. Not even his eye-rolling after her smile could make her feel bad. "39.2°C. It's going down."

"Because of the pain killer." Severus croaked and grabbed for his throat.

"Don't speak! You should gargle again." Seeing his horrified expression, she added, "I will warm up some soup for you, and you can gargle while I get it, okay?"

Severus nodded. His throat was killing him, and hot soup was something he really would like to have now.

When Hermione came back, she glanced into the bucket.

"Ms. Granger," Severus growled warningly. Even in his condition he was capable of making her shiver.

She placed the bowl down on the night table and leaned over him. Severus was shocked. What the hell is the girl doing?

Seeing his shocked face, Hermione could not stop herself from giggling. "I'm just lifting the headboard so that you can sit up."

After a few spoonfuls, he was so exhausted that he could not hold his hand steady. She was still sitting on his bed, and he was worried that this did not annoy him. I must be really ill.

When he finally gave up and dropped the spoon in the bowl , she asked, "May I help you, Professor? I won't tell anyone. I read about Wizard's Oaths in a book. I could make one so that I can't tell anyone about what happened here. I also read about Memory Charms, but I would like to remember this all. I would like to remember this side of Professor Snape."

"This is not Professor Snape, Ms. Granger. This is just Severus Snape, and you should have never met him." He closed his eyes in desperation.

"Why not?" Hermione asked, disappointed.

"That difficult to explain, Ms. Granger," he said, exhausted.

"It's okay. Like I said, I would take an Oath, and if you insist upon it, I will agree to be Obliviated," she said sadly and sighed. She really would hate that. When she looked up again, she could see his eyes boring into hers.

"I will not ask that of you, but I would really appreciate if you did not tell anyone. Not even your friends."

"I won't," she said and smiled at him again.

Damn, I'm going soft, he thought when he realized that she had smiled her way into his heart. Nobody had ever looked at him that way in his whole life. Maybe having a child like her around would not be as bad as he always thought it would be. He was still deep in thought when the first spoonful of soup found its way into his mouth. Swallowing it down, he looked confused at the spoon and the hand holding it. Without protest, he let Hermione feed him the rest of the bowl.

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