Gloomy shadows concealed whatever it was, Severus was following. The odor of sweat filled his nostrils in the dark, as trepidation was starting to spread his chest. Airy, short breaths escaped his lips as he tried to keep himself from trembling. Despite being used to being uncomfortable situations a lot of times he did not like the situation.
Of course, it could just be his imagination at play. Yet he could have sworn that he had seen something, lurking in the library earlier. Something that could not be within the school. Gentle echoes of his footsteps were heard within the small corridor.
Severus kept his face free of emotions and tried to calm his irrationality, his heart rhythm had picked up the deeper he came into one of the side corridors. He held an iron grip on his wand when he started to follow the creature at the library. Even though he had reached one of the side corridors on the third floor, one story up from the library his grip on his only defense had not lessened. The oxygen died around him when he heard suddenly a couple of footsteps was heard coming toward his position.
Cold quivers down his spine in shock despite he knew what was going to happen. Wet drops of sweat rolled off his skin while he tried to move forward without making more sound than necessary. Blood shelf was the only way to survive, even though he disliked the idea very much.
But what with such a creature the choice was to kill the creature with a hex or be killed. Suddenly a wooden blade squeaked beneath his weight. He had no other choice but to run forward with his wand aimed. It was only defense.
Adrenaline pumped, along with trepidation. The seconds were moving so apace. Without thinking though he ran forward. He was more than ready to throw a curse until he had close enough to see who was coming.
Disappointment could not even describe how he was feeling. He had been on the edge of having an anxiety attack for that?
Why could it not be some interesting?
"Why must you keep pestering your unbearable present after curfew? " Severus spatted while he pointed the tip of his wand further into a gentle face, which belong to Hermione Granger.
" Well, I beg your pardon for pestering the pass-" Hermione muttered back but before she could finish the sentence was caught off by a sound.
Forlorness. Maybe even foreboding. Severus was kind of unsure what kind of emotion he feeling in his stomach. He just heard the sound come from further down the corridor. Maybe even another hallway. For a moment it had sounded like a hand slammed against a hard door?
A couple of seconds went by in complete silence. He will go check what it could be after he had gotten rid of the insufferable know-it-all. He found her insufferable in multiple ways but if she was hurt by the creature then he would have to write that on his list of sins, as well. Severus's gaze flickered back to Hermione. He noticed even in the dark that her unruly hair looked chaotic.
If there was a creature? He did not like the idea, but maybe there was possibility that the creature came from his own mind.
"A tiresome, dumb apology can not help you against trespassing," Severus promised with undertones of threat. He could not wait to give her detention. It would be the highlight of his day.
Severus nodded sidewards, indicating that she should follow him. He would decide what kind of detention she should have in the morning. He flickered with his wand, without saying a wand. A small beam of light glowed from the tip of the black wand. The somber shadows flee away from the small glow. He started to move forward. He just had to be quick of getting rid of her. Of course, the chance of he had imagined the whole thing was increasing.
Maybe the lack of sleep was starting to get the better of him? The war was coming closer after all. He cast a look back toward her. She was following him without a question. Even in the darkness, he noticed that she kept her head down, making her unruly hair stand out more. Most of her frizzy hair covered the upper part of her face, except for the lower of it. The skin around her mouth looked wet. Maybe she had been .. crying? He looked away from her and looked forward. Maybe someone had told to shut up.
Severus felt one of the corners of his mouth crawl a bit upwards just by thinking on. The floor shiecked gently beneath them as they moved across the small corridor. Some of the paintings grunt a bit, because of the light, but did not say anything. Of course, the creature could be hiding in the darkness, but still, the more the more he walked the more he was in doubt of if he had imagined it all.
Severus was the only defense against the dark arts teacher at Hogwats and had been reading a lot about the inferi. But an inferi could not be in Hogwats.
"Please help me!" Whoever that had shouted those words was hard to decipher especially since the voice sounded distorted. It was also hard to decipher where the person was since the scream echoed through the corridor.
"Please no-" The voice shouted before it was caught off by the sound of a door shutting. Severus felt like his limps had become frozen. What was that? Had he imagined that as well? He turned his head first and then the rest of his body.
The flicker of a second he turned; he saw the back of Hermione's unruly hair bouncing away from him. He had not imagined the screams. It was real. The creature was real. His movements were slow at first as he realized, yet as Hermione started to grow more confident in her case, his walking pace turned into a jog. Within a couple of fast steps, he ran past her and moved before her. Even though it was dark, he could see a slight trembling in her slightly plump lips.
" Someone sounded to be in trouble." She muttered. Severus kept his face free of emotions, despite his collar seeming to tighten around his throat. He needed to get rid of her before she would get hurt as well. He might not like her, but he refused to have more blood on his hands. He had enough guilt to atone for.
" The screamer will I take care of, especially since it is just properly a drunk imbecile. " He sneered out his lie. It was not his best lie, but he just needed to get rid of her. But if he told her the truth then panic would spread like wildfire. When the dementors had guarded Hogwarts had been bad enough.
" Quiet! " One of the animated paintings shouted. He ignored the painting despite he held back his tongue not to insult something back.
Severus glared at her, telling her without words, that she should mind her own business before he turned on his heel. Her eyes kept burning into his neck until a rush of adrenaline ran through him and his steps became more determined. He had not even counted to three before he heard a couple of footsteps start to follow him. His muscle tense, as his nostrils caught a smell of cleanness. Redness crawled up his throat before he snapped his head around.
Her eyes burned into his neck as he started to walk toward the darkness he had come from. The previous rush of adrenaline pumped through him again when he disappeared out of her sight. The question where could the creature be? The creature had reminded him of inferi, but an inferi need a special spell to hold them from collapsing. His footsteps turned into running ones as he moved past where he had met Hermione earlier. More importantly which door had it dragged a human behind? The imaginations in his head wanted to jump free, but he knew he could not let them. He did not even know if the creature had taken a female or a male. No that it matter but the screams sound distorted he could not tell.
Uneasiness. Unfeeling. Distaste. Hatred.
The emotions kept on growing as he continued down the hallway and he walked into another passage. The somber shadows lessened compared to his wand light. He turned a corner and entered another corridor. It was even darker than the previous one and colder. It was one of the side corridors that would lead to the main hallway. Where all the classrooms were. An ache started to form his side and he had no other choice but to slow down his pace. Redness crawled up his throat instantly when he heard some footsteps. But instead of the rotten smell, it was clean.
" Go home, Granger before I will unleash my wrath over your lack of hearing and discipline." He hissed between his teeth. He kept going away from her.
" It is a full moon tonight." Her words alone made the sweat that had dripped off him earlier, started pimple more forward than ever before and his grip on his wand handle had become unstable. Why did it have to be a full moon? Even though he was sure it had been inferi was the only possibility since the glimpse of the face he had seen seemed so thin but what she had just mention was not off the table. The face was too thin to be Fenrir, yet it could be another werewolf at loose.
"Woof woof! "Someone whispered nearby. Severus snapped his head around and glared back at the darkness, hoping that his stare might keep the person from ever speaking again. Slowly his glance drifted back to her. Her arms were crossed, but still, she could not hide the fact that she was trembling. The screams had been properly been the last clue for her to put two and two together. She would be a nightmare to debate to make her go back to her dormitory and he did not have time for that. Worse she wanted to help him. He did not need help for a young adult, especially not her. He curled his upper lip in distaste when a thought hit him.
Maybe she could be useful? If it was an inferi or a werewolf as she suspected that he needed maybe an extra hand when the creature had gotten someone. He ran through his hair, making his hand a bit more oily than before. If the victim was bleeding to death then he could not keep the creature at bay. She was ambitious enough to learn healing spells. Maybe bright enough to throw the spells? He exhaled loudly, feeling the distaste boiling beneath his skin. He hated the thought but he managed to get the words out of his mouth after a few seconds.
'" Come along, but keep your syllables to yourself," Severus said in a flat tone. She gave a short smile but did not say anything as he turned around. He started to walk at a fast speed toward the main hallway on the third floor. He could hear her footsteps behind him, yet she kept her mouth shut which was unbelievable in itself. They passed the paintings one by one.
Despite he kept on his light spell, the paintings were silent as well. Some of them followed him with their eyes while others merely glance at him. Those of them that did not look at them, had a sniff glance while those who looked had gone translucent. His throat had run dry when he realized that they looked at him like a lamb going to be slaughtered.
One of the rays of his light caught the eyes of one of paintings. Despite the wand's light, Severus could see that it was a man with a beard, and dead expression.
" Go back." The old man's eyes flickered down but he caught Severus's eyes again. Severus could not tell what kind of emotion there was in the man's glance that his stomach turn.
" Whatever that thing is, it has been lurking in the hallway for months." The old man stated with a bit of clearness. Severus
" If you are as clever as you claim to be then you would go back, because that thing is not normal."
The one painting's glance fell upon Hermione. The old man stared at Hermione for a second, before the old man look away again.
But he swallowed his saliva and continued to move. Hermione had managed to grab a corner of his cloak. He allowed her somehow, even though he did not why. Their footsteps echoed softly until they reached the main hallway. Somehow their steps seemed to chime. At first, he tried to walk slower, yet the more he went further in and it did not make his steps seem else loud.
Hermione's breath warmed his shoulder blades, and she kept close to him like she understood the eerieness. Time was not on their side nor was it on their victim. They had to hurry if they needed to be able to save the person. One of the light rays of his wand caught the eyes of one of the paintings. It was one of the closest to their position. Severus hurried toward the painting. Within a few steps, he could point his wand toward the old face of the painting and almost blind it with the light " It might be that you might have seen something unusual this evening?" Severus sneered not caring one bit that the painting tried not to be blind to the light and looked away from him.
" Look classroom C2. " The old painting muttered.
" C2 classroom for muggle studies? " Hermione asked. She popped her head from behind Severus's back. The old painting nodded to Hermione, completely ignoring Severus.
Severus flared his nostrils at the display from the old painting, but he hurried away from the paintings without muttering thanks. He heard Hermione stand behind him for a couple of seconds before she hurried after him.
" Hope it will go well. " Called the old painting.
Severus would be a lair if he did not feel uncomfortable after that. Especially since the painting were stared after them.
"A few supernatural creatures like low temperature," Hermione said with a bit of tension. Severus did not look at her. He could almost feel anxiety wave of her, even though he walked several steps before her. He had an idea what she was thinking. Werewolves liked normal temperatures. Unlike vampires they liked cold and one of the coldest classrooms in the whole school were C2.
" Angolos totallas" Severus said tightly as he waved his wave across his chest. Where was an angel when he needed one?