Chapter 8 : Odd Symptoms
There was an owl nestled in his wife's hair.
Severus gazed blearily at the owl taking up residence in his wife's hair and gave a sniff. The owl hooted softly, but didn't seem inclined to come or go. Hermione seemed oblivious to the Strigiformes squatter, but it wasn't that surprising considering how many random owls they had visiting from one moment to the next. The owls had become terribly useful, in their own way. Thanks to the strangely helpful volunteer birds, all of the messages sent out to gather people in the public shaming of Ronald Weasley had flown out without a hitch and in record time.
Severus found his eyes drifting closed again, his arm automatically curving around his wife's body as he pressed his face into her back. Even after over a decade of being married with the accompanying children, the only physical contact he genuinely sought and could admit he found pleasure in was his wife's. While he tolerated the hugs of his children and even returned them, he had worked very hard not to stiffen when they unexpectedly did so. While part of it, he knew, was the gift of the bond they shared, he also knew that decades spending all of this time being the most mentally and emotionally guarded individual of multiple wars and equally guarded childhood probably didn't him any emotionally expressive favors.
Hermione, however, sought his embrace and his touch whenever possible. Every time she did, it healed a little of Severus' wounded past. While a part of him held Lily as both the best and worst memories of his childhood, he had finally, in embracing his bond with Hermione, reconciled with Lily's memory and perhaps even her spirit. What surprised him more, however, was that Hermione accepted his love for Lily as unconditionally as she did his love for her. She knew that while he would always hold that love he had for Lily, he would hold his love for Hermione in a separate but no less significant place. And she, he knew without question, would never cease to value him the same if not more.
Severus hrmphed, chuckling to himself that even his morning thoughts had been infiltrated by his wife's ubiquitous presence. She had replaced his downward spiraling negativity that had protected his every waking thought during decades of war. He nibbled on the edge of her neck.
Hermione stirred, dislodging the owl sitting in her hair. She turned over on the pillow and snuggled into his chest, pressing her face against his scarred skin. He felt her inhale his scent as her nostrils flared and tickled his skin.
Severus pulled her against him with a growl, enjoying her closeness.
The owl hooted softly.
"Mmph," Hermione replied. "Is that you, Mother?"
The owl hooted a reply.
Hermione lifted the comforter up and the owl walked under it as though it were the most natural thing to do in the world.
Severus rolled his eyes and the owl settled in between him and his wife with a soft hoot.
"I'm fairy certain that whatever it is that is going on with this parliament of owls we have infesting our chambers is not natural," Severus commented dryly.
"You think?" Hermione chuckled, petting the owl with her fingers.
Mother hooted softly, gently taking Hermione's fingers in her beak and tugging on them.
"She's been with us for years now," Hermione said, mentally counting how many years it had been since "Mother" had made herself at home in their residence. "I have no idea whose owl she is. I really hope she's one of the school's owls. I'd hate to think we "stole" someone's personal owl."
Severus touched his wife's hair with his fingers. "Perhaps we are gathering wild owls."
Hermione's eyes met his in the dimness under the comforter. "That is even more peculiar, I think. It's not exactly natural behavior for an untrained owl to desire… this." She played with Mother's beak with her fingers. The owl nipped at her fingers playfully and seemed perfectly content to do so.
"We seem to be rewriting the book on "normal" in many areas of bird life," Severus commented.
Hermione shook her head. "That, my love, is true." She gazed into her husband's eyes with a smile. "What do you think, Mother?"
The owl hooted softly in reply.
"If you are a wild owl, then you are a really talented one," Hermione praised the owl. "You've delivered so many messages, and neither I or Severus trained you for it."
Mother hooted.
Hermione's brow furrowed. "You aren't a spy, are you, Mother?"
The owl didn't seem very impressed.
Hermione gave Severus a grin.
Severus narrowed his eyes at the owl. "You aren't actually one of Malfoy's owls are you?" He eyed the owl suspiciously.
Mother seemed completely unimpressed by that question as well.
Hermione shrugged. "I blame the phoenixes," she said at last. "It's worked the last decade. Why stop now?"
Mother gave a burbling hoot in reply, bobbing her head.
Severus yawned and stretched, sitting up in the bed. Hermione stretched, giving a high pitched yawn. She rolled out of bed, and stood, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
Severus held up the comforter to let Mother walk out from under it. He noticed the parchment lashed to her leg at last. "Ah, that explains it." He pointed to her leg.
"Mystery solved," Hermione chuckled, taking the parchment from around Mother's leg. She reached onto the bedside table and picked up a frog leg, handing it to the patient owl.
Mother made the offering disappear quickly and hooted happily, spreading her wings experimentally, flapping them a few times, and then launched herself into the air and out the room.
"I still have no idea whose owl she is," Hermione said as she unrolled the parchment.
"Some mysteries," Severus said, "Are not meant to be solved."
Hermione chuckled and read the parchment. "Euuh?"
"Very articulate, my witch," Severus murmured, snatching the parchment from her fingers.
His eyebrow lifted into his hair. "I stand corrected. 'Euuh' is the proper response to this message."
Hermione frowned as she shed her sleep gown and pulled on her chemise. She pulled on her teaching robe and sash with automatic fervor. By the time she had worked over her multiple layers, threw on her outer robe, and started to work on her hair, Severus was already dressed and at her side, running a brush through her hair.
"How do you do that?" Hermione chuckled.
"Do what, my witch?" Severus asked, his dark eyes met hers as he ran the brush through her hair.
"Dress faster than I do, even with all of those buttons," she answered.
Severus's mouth quirked upwards. "Many years of ardent practice," he said with an inscrutable expression. He pulled her hair back and placed one of the many combs taking up space on the dresser into her hair. He leaned in and placed a soft kiss upon her lips.
"Mmmm," Hermione hummed, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down closer. She pulled away with a sad expression.
"Why the frown?" Severus asked, brushing her cheek with his thumb.
"Just thinking of things that will not help us get to the hospital wing," Hermione confessed.
The corner of Severus' mouth twitched. He brushed her hair back from her ear with his fingers. "Only you, my witch," he purred softly.
"I should hope so," Hermione said with a lift of her chin. "I would hate to have competition for your affections." She looked down her nose at him with mischief.
Severus sniffed at her and stared down at her with half veiled eyes. "Minerva is waiting for us," he rumbled.
Hermione smiled and walked to the nesting box, pausing to feed the hungry waving beaks. She scratched each chick under the chin and smiled. Pyre and Prince warbled a happy greeting and talon walked up her arms to preen their Mistress' hair. Sparks and Ignis peeped happy greetings, flapping their wings for a share of the attention.
Severus transferred Pyre to his shoulder and scooped up Sparks and placed her on his opposite shoulder. He cupped Ignis with his hands and transferred the happy chick to Hermione's empty shoulder.
They exited their chambers with a swirl of their robes as the phoenixes cheerfully warbled experimental songs from their shoulders.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
As the professors Snape entered the hospital wing, Minerva waved them over to one of the beds. Curious, yet concerned, the pair approached, scanning the bed with their eyes to determine how they knew them.
"Miss Baylor?" Hermione said with a tilt of her head.
Minerva was wringing her hands together. "I called you here because I am not sure how I want to treat this. Wayne sent me a message yesterday about Miss Baylor's and Mr. Quinn's attempting to leave Honeydukes without paying. I dealt with the school discipline last night and figured I would speak with you both today about what I had given them."
Severus' brows furrowed. "How does this lead to her being in the hospital wing?"
"Mr. Quinn," Minerva continued, inclining her head to the boy sitting with his face in his hands, "Went to fetch her for breakfast this morning and was concerned when she wasn't in the dormitories or the common room as per her regular routine. He found her in one of the courtyards passed out under a tree."
Poppy joined the conversation. "I've scanned her quite thoroughly. Whatever this is, it is not magical," Poppy said with a frown. "But… it may be reacting to her magic."
"An interaction with her magic from an outside source?" Severus questioned.
Poppy nodded. "I asked Minerva if you both could come take a look at her to see if it is possibly an interaction with a potion or perhaps an belated reaction from an accident during potions class."
Severus and Hermione frowned at the same time, brows furrowing.
"They were only brewing burn paste during the last class she was in," Severus confirmed.
"Nothing in that particular recipe would have given off vapors, even if they had slipped in the wrong ingredients," Hermione recalled. "And miraculously, no one in that class botched their burn paste that afternoon."
Severus gazed down at the student with a concerned frown. "If I may?" he asked Poppy.
Poppy nodded. "Please do whatever you need."
Severus pulled out his wand and did his own cursory scans. "This is not caused by any potion I am aware of. As you said there is also no trace of magical energy upon her either."
Minerva shook her head. "We've had cases of students collapsing due to stress, misused potions, and overtaxing their magic, but I've yet to experience something so vague."
Hermione cast her hand over Verbena with a frown. "Maybe we are thinking too hard in proving it is magic."
Minerva and Poppy looked at Hermione with curiosity. Severus extended his hand to her and she clasped it. They passed their free hands over Baylor's still body, eyes dark. "The lack of magic trace is the symptom," Hermione said, tilting her head to the side slightly. Hermione nodded to Severus and they released each other's hand.
"Mr. Quinn," Hermione addressed the boy who was sitting in the chair nearby.
Quinn looked very distressed as he raised his head to look at Hermione.
"Have you noticed anything odd with Miss Baylor's behavior lately?" Hermione asked softly. Her eyes and expression had softened slightly as she watched the boy's face.
"She's been acting a little strange all week, Ma'am," Quinn confessed. "She's been really stressed this past month with the O.W.L.s coming up. But, this week, she had a panic attack during charms class. She said she took something for the anxiety, but ever since then, she's been… worse."
"How do you mean worse," Hermione asked.
Quinn frowned slightly as he recalled. "She's been… moody. Hair-triggered. Paranoid. Yesterday, she…" Quinn paused as he realized he may get in trouble all over again. "Yesterday, she wanted to steal candy from Honeydukes. I let her convince me. It was wrong, I know that, but I couldn't say no to her. She's always been there for me, and she's never asked me for anything before."
Severus tilted his head. "Mr. Quinn, you said she took something for her anxiety. Do you know if she took a Calming Draught?"
Quinn shook his head. "She didn't take any potions. We never came to talk to Madam Pomfrey for anything. She just said she took care of it."
Severus frowned and exchanged glaces with Hermione.
Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Mr. Quinn, did she ever take anything at meals? Possibly a pill?"
Quinn furrowed his brows. "Possibly. I did see her put something into her mouth and drink some juice, but I didn't think anything of it, so I never asked. I figured they were muggle vitamins, like I used to take when I was a young kid."
Hermione watched Quinn's eyes glisten with emotion. There were tears threatening to escape his eyes, but he was struggling hard to be strong. "Thank you, Eduard," Hermione said softly, using his first name in gentle comfort. "It is brave to be truthful, and you are being very brave being here for your friend."
Quinn's face looked tormented as he clenched his fists. "I should have suspected something. I should have stood up to her."
Hermione's face softened. "Standing up to your friends can be very hard. Especially… when you care for what they think of you."
Severus turned his gaze from Hermione to Minerva. "Minerva, do we have permission to check her possessions. Perhaps there is something there that might help us ascertain what may have happened."
Minerva nodded. Poppy gestured to the small bedside cabinet.
Severus pulled the school uniform out and checked the robe pockets. He laid out the things he found in front of Minerva: wand, candies, notebook, coins, random trinkets. Everything looked like typical student fare for her age.
Severus furrowed his brows as his hand found a pocket he wasn't expecting. "There is a pocket inside a pocket." He pulled out a packet of something yet unknown from the hidden pocket.
As he placed the packet on the table in front of him, he continued to pat down the rest of the robe, but nothing else sprung up.
Minerva frowned at the packet. "Muggle?"
Hermione had stood from where she was comforting Eduard Quinn. She came back over to the table the the others were standing around. "Find anything?"
Severus lifted his head to motion towards the table.
Hermione picked up the zipped bag with her fingers. There were clear capsules inside filled with some sort of pulverized mix. "Perhaps Preston has contacts with the muggle laboratories that can help us with identifying what is in this? I fear it is far too pulverized to be worth trying to identify by scent. While I do not doubt Pomona or Neville's ability to identify herbs, I am fairly certain that this will be beyond our typical methods of ascertaining ingredients.
Hermione paused to unzip the bag and sniff the package carefully, using her hand to waft the scent towards her rather than sticking the package to her nose. She wrinkled her nose. "I can tell you there is the muggle's version of Devil's Snare in it that is not remotely good, chamomile, some sort of green tea, hops…" She sniffed again, nostrils flaring. "Valerian, I think. Severus?"
Severus took the packet and wafted the scent to his nostrils, inhaling carefully. "Yes to all the above… also… lemon balm. There is, something else mixed in. Something covered by the other ingredients." He closed the zip on the bag and placed the capsules on the table with narrowed eyes.
Hermione took in a breath and exhaled softly. Her hand sought her husband's automatically, and his finger curled around her wrist and gently stroked the the inside of her arm. "When I was more in touch with the muggle school system, some of the older students were just starting to experiment with herbal supplements for all sorts of ailments. There is an entire movement for natural remedies and such for everything from headaches, allergies, to insomnia. While some of them do actually work, it is not regulated like other muggle medications. Sometimes the cure is just as bad as the problem."
"Muggle students put unknown mixes into their bodies without knowing what is in it?" Poppy looks absolutely horrified.
"It's no different than one of our students quaffing a potion without confirming that the label is correct, Madam," Severus said softly. "It doesn't make it any better, but we see it here in Hogwarts in our own ways as well."
Poppy squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.
Minerva gave a soft sigh. "I will speak to Donavan and see if he can speak with his muggle contacts to determine what, exactly, this is. Perhaps he can shed some light on how she obtained these capsules. I would hate to think they are being spread around Hogwarts as we are getting closer to the O.W.L.s."
"Hopefully, finding out what is in these mysterious capsules will help us determine if she is suffering the effects of the mixture, or if the mixture is reacting badly to her magic in some sort of… horrible interaction," Severus said lowly.
"I do hope it is just the mixture, to be honest," Hermione said. "Bad interactions with inate magical energy is the last thing we need to worry about on top of students passing out in the corridors after taking muggle supplements." Hermione's face was downcast in thought.
"There are a few capsules in here. Should we save one for Pomona and Neville to analyze as well?" Minerva asked.
"I would," Severus said without a change in his expression. "Perhaps we can get a head start on identifying some of the ingredients other than the ones we have already. While I wouldn't trust Professor Longbottom around any cauldron of mine, he is, thankfully, respectable at Herbology."
Poppy, Minerva, and Hermione snorted together, realizing at the same moment that that was as close to a compliment that Severus would ever offer up to Neville Longbottom.
"Poppy, is Miss Baylor going to be stable like this?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, dear, she will," Poppy nodded. "I've taken care of most of her symptoms, but she is weak and her magic is almost nothing. She will probably be like this for a few days, if not longer. She is no longer deteriorating."
Hermione nodded to her and exchanged glances with Severus soundlessly. "I have a few students in my House I can question and get real answers from in regards to possible trends in herbal remedies being passed around. I will talk to them."
Severus closed his eyes for a moment. "I will question similarly in my own."
Minerva nodded. "I will take these to Pomona and Neville for analysis and Preston Reese so he can speak with his contacts. Good luck to you both."
"You as well," the professors Snape said together with a bow of their heads, turning on their heels and gliding out the hospital wing in perfect synchronization, already muttering to each other the properties of numerous herbs and reagents and their interactions.
"So much for a peaceful weekend," Minerva said to Poppy.
Poppy Pomfrey laid her hand on the Headmistress' shoulder in silent comfort.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Hermione stood steepled her fingers and stared into the eyes of one of her House's students.
Gelena Gridson, a prefect for Gryffindor, sat calmly in the chair opposing her Head of House. She was wearing her Sunday casuals, free of her normal Hogwart's uniform. Gelena sipped the tea that was sitting in front of her, accepting the more casual meeting between her and her professor with a more relaxed feeling than a meeting during the week may have entailed.
Hermione sighed, exhaling a long breath out her nose in an almost weary sigh. "So, this is common?"
Gelena shook her head. "No, I wouldn't say it is common, Professor," she replied. "It is… a strangely new way of coping that is more commonly known amongst the Wizarding students. You can get them at the corner drugstore, to be honest… sometimes at health food stores or vitamin shops in muggle cities."
Hermione curled her lip before she took a sip of her tea. While she knew that there were herbal "remedies" that crossed back and forth between the muggle and Wizarding worlds, she had yet to find ones that interfered with a person's innate magical ability. Her teas, for example, could be tailored to reduce stress or help with alertness, but they were as carefully crafted as the potions she and Severus worked on. None of the ingredients, even if mixed with the incompetence of a first year student, would drain your magic.
"Gelena," Hermione asked, reverting to her more casual mode of address. "Do you know if any of this is going around Gryffindor Tower?"
The female student closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Unfortunately, yes. It seems to be more popular amongst those with encroaching exams."
Hermione grasped the bridge of her nose, shadowing the other Professor Snape with an unconscious automatic reaction to her exasperation. "Do you know where it is coming from?"
Gelena shook her head immediately. "I do not, Professor, I am sorry." The student seemed sorrowful that she could not help further, but then she perked up again. "I do know where you can get them in London, but I cannot say for sure what each student may have used. There are so many out there."
Hermione nodded and stood, her outer robe swished as she moved about the office. "Thank you, Gelena. I appreciate your candor."
Gelena nodded to Hermione. "Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you, Professor," she said.
Hermione nodded. "Please let me know if there are any students acting out of character, if you would, please."
Gelena gave a small nod of assent. "Yes, ma'am."
"Thank you, Gelena," Hermione said. "Please enjoy the rest of your weekend." Hermione's eyes flicked to Gelena and and watched the Gryffindor prefect exit the office.
Mother and Fuss hooted from the perch they were occupying in the office as Wobble flapped in and hooted a greeting. Prince warbled a reply, and Ignis peeped a commentary from Hermione's hair.
"You wouldn't happen to know where these strange pills are coming from, would you?" Hermione arched a brow at the owls.
Wobble turned his head to gaze at her, hooting softly.
"Are you bearing messages, or are you just visiting?" Hermione asked with a curious smile.
The three visiting owls stared at her with large round eyes, hooting neutrally.
"Thought so," Hermione chuckled. She led the way out the office door. "Everyone out!"
She held the door open as the small parliament of owls flew out the door, and she closed it behind them.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Severus stood over a couple simmering cauldron. His black eyes watched each one with only a flick of his eyes. The scrape of Hermione's shoe against the dungeon lab floor alerted him that she was behind him in customary warning even though they were long past the need for such things.
Hermione stirred one clockwise, the next anti-clockwise, and the one next to that clockwise and anti-clockwise both. Her threw in a pinch of leaves into the first, dumped a handful of powder into the next, and ignored the last cauldron intentionally.
Part of Severus found it quite ironic that she never had to question where he was in the midst of a potion recipe when she had questioned everything backwards and forwards as a student. Now, she always knew what he was making and exactly what step she was pausing on. They had been together for too long for it to be otherwise. What she didn't know in habit, she made up for by reading from his thoughts.
Had anyone told him back when he was the only Snape in Hogwarts that there would be one person that could see past his Occulumency, he would both denied it vehemently and would not have guessed it to be Hermione Granger. In true Slytherin style, she had slipped through the cracks so skillfully that by the time he had realized she was there… he would never wished her to leave. And in equally Gryffindor audacity, she did to seek repentance for it.
Severus watched Hermione cup Ignis in her hands and coo at him with praise. She rubbed her nose against the phoenix chick's shiny black beak and smiled as flames rolled up and down his body as he enjoyed her praise. The flames never burned either of them, and for that the both of them were quite thankful for the gift.
Ignis peeped and gave a half warble as Hermione stroked his breast with her fingers. With a gently tug, Hermione relieved her charge of a loose piece of his down and smiled at the chick. "Thank you, Ignis. You are very helpful today," she cooed, placing the chick back into her hair. The chick peeped happily, seemingly happy to oblige.
She released the tiny bit of down into the last cauldron and watched it sink into the simmering cauldron before stirring it in a sideways figure eight. The potion shimmered and turned an iridescent red and orange color. Ignis chirped his approval from her shoulder. She removed the cauldron from the fire and set it aside with a stifled yawn. She leaned into him with a soft murmur, and Severus enfolded her with his robe silently, his eyes still watching the remaining two cauldrons.
As the color of the remaining cauldrons changed, Severus waved his hand absently, as if shooing a fly, causing the flame to extinguish. He allowed himself to close his eyes in the silence, enjoying the feel of his mate's presence and touch. They waited together, unmoving, for some yet signal yet to happen. Even Ignis closed his eyes and quietly nestled in Hermione's hair, content to wait.
Then, as the color in the cauldrons changed again, the two potion masters parted. Severus pulled a vial out from one of his bottomless pockets, and Hermione pulled out two small ladles. Hermione gently decanted a measure of the first two cauldrons into the vial and took an eyedropper to the last one, squeezing three drops of the bright red-orange potion into the vial.
Severus stoppered the vial and shook it, causing a bright blue glow to spread inside the glass. They stared at the vial as the glow evened out inside.
"Now we wait for word from Preston," Hermione said softly, pressing a label to the vial with her thumb.
Severus held the vial up to the phoenix on his shoulder. "Please take this to Poppy, Prince," he rumbled softly.
The phoenix yawned beakily, took the vial in one of his feet, and launched off his shoulder, flying out the laboratory door.
"That will at least keep her symptoms stable and help replenish her energy until we can get word from Reece's contacts," Severus said with a sigh.
Hermione nodded, waving her wand to clean up the mess they had made. She tucked her wand away. She ran her fingers along the rim of the cleaned cauldron, her face had gained the faraway look that signaled her being lost in thought.
Severus placed his hand against the side of her neck as his nose pressed against her ear. The slight tickle of his breath against her skin caused her to catch his hand in hers. She leaned into him. "What are you thinking about, Hermione?" he asked softly.
Hermione turned to look him in the eyes. "I was thinking about our row over potion recipes back when I was still using the textbooks."
"Mmmph," Severus grunted. "Which one. We had many." His lip quirked upward as he transfigured the lab stool into their accustomed couch. He sat down with a slight exhale and pulled her down with him.
Hermione snuggled into his side without bothering to rise to his bait.
Severus' hand ran along the side of her jaw and pulled her against himself with gentle tug. His eyes closed slowly as the lull of each other's company soothed them both from the stresses of the unexpected strain of the day.
-o-o-o-o—o-o-
"You will do this potion without assistance from your beloved book, Ms. Granger," Snape growled from over her shoulder. "I have done you the service of picking the reagents you require to save you that particular heartache. The rest is up to you."
"But, Sir," Hermione protested as Snape pulled the book off the stand on the laboratory table and closed it. "You said the process was important."
Snape's eyes narrowed as he glowered down at her. "The process is important, Ms. Granger. The book, however, is holding you back."
Hermione struggled to make sense of her Master's words. It was only a few weeks into the term, and the stresses of the upcoming N.E.W.T.s mixed with added stress of of Snape's ever obscure lessons. His directions, as always, were rigid, but lately, he seemed to be making things even harder for her by taking things away from her… things like the instructions.
"You told us to never waver from the instructions," Hermione said with frustration. "Was I supposed to memorize them all?"
Snape kept her gaze unwaveringly, his expression was utterly blank. "No, Ms. Granger. I expect you to understand what you are making."
Hermione stared at the binding to the book her Master held, her frustration hampering her comprehension of the lesson he was attempting to instill in her.
"This," Snape growled as he tapped the book under his arm with one pale finger, "Is a crutch. It is the instructions for a student whose only object is to pass and meet standard expectations, to which one can meet, fail at, or exceed." Snape leaned closer to her. His eyes bored into hers without flinching. "It is not for you."
Snape sneered as he looked around the now empty classroom. "You must be better than they are," he scowled. "You ARE better than they are, and you… must… prove it. To them… and to yourself."
He scowled at her, his expression as dispassionate as ever. "Feel the purpose of your reagents. Know them inside and out. Know their names. Know their purposes. Know how they whisper to each other. Understand them. You must do this before you even attempt to light the brazier under that cauldron. Once you do these things, you will know exactly what potion it is I am having you make, and you will make it… without… a crutch. Do I make myself clear, Ms. Granger?"
Hermione looked at the various jars of ingredients on the table and then back up to meet her Master's dark eyes. "Yes, Master," she replied, lifting her chin in determination.
Severus held her gaze for a few seconds more before he turned. "Good," he said simply. "Decant your potion when you are finished and place it on my desk." He sniffed once and walked towards his desk to grade parchments.
Hermione took a deep breath, lifted the first jar, and opened it away from herself, wafting the lip of the jar towards her.
Many hours later, Severus had completed the grading of his virtual mountain of parchments and potion turn ins and walked back to the laboratory table where Hermione had been communing with her potion ingredients and cauldron.
Hermione sat draped with her head over her crossed arms on the laboratory table. A filled flask was on the desk. Her hand was still grasping her quill where she had written in a neat script "Fire Protecti" and the rest of the word trailed off as she had fallen asleep writing it.
Severus picked up the flask and opened it, wafting the scent towards his nose. His nostrils flared as he recognized the scent. He swished the contents in the flask and analyzed the viscosity and color. Without a sound, he took the somewhat unfinished label, added the "on" to the end of "Protecti" and wrapped it around the flask.
With his wand, he cleaned the laboratory table, sending the clean cauldron and reagents flying back to their proper places on the shelves.
Tucking his wand into the lining of his teaching robe, he shrugged his outer robe off and gently lay it over her shoulders as she slept on obliviously to her surroundings. He stared down at the apprentice he had not volunteered for with the sudden realization that if he was going to be stuck with an apprentice, Hermione Granger may not be such a bad choice after all.
"Your potion is acceptable, my Apprentice," He said softly, turning and carrying her potion to one of the cabinets and placed it within.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Severus slowly opened his eyes, a quirk tugged at the corners of his mouth as he remembered one of the many early confrontations with his first Apprentice. He placed his hand into Hermione's hair and gently combed it with his outstretched fingers. One day, he would have to thank Minerva for forcing Hermione upon him as his apprentice.
Perhaps, he would do so the next time he saw her… asleep preferably, so she couldn't rub it in his face. Maybe it would be better if she was passed out drunk, so he could at least hold something over her during a future negotiation. Severus snickered to himself. The mental image pleased him.
His gaze returned to his wife as she napped against him on the couch. There was no use fretting overly about Ms. Baylor's condition when the results were not back from Professor Reese's muggle contacts. Both he and Hermione trusted Poppy's evaluation of the student's stable condition over negative speculation. His eyes slowly drifted closed again as he joined her once more in the late afternoon nap. Worry would wait for later.