Snape dropped the knife rushing over to kneel down in front of her folded form. The glass from the vial pressed into his knee as he tried to see her face.

Hermione had never felt such pain, her entire body felt on fire. She held herself tightly around the stomach as a metallic taste filled her mouth. Her stomach lurched and she couldn't stop herself from spitting up blood all over her jeans. She gasped trying to take in air before she heaved again throwing up the potions, their magic tainted with another unnerving amount of blood.

Snape bared his teeth pushing her hair back over her shoulder, he had a faint idea as to what was happening but he saved his theories for later. There was a lot of blood, more than what he expected, he could feel it soaking into his trousers. His hand moved to her back keeping her down. His other parting her legs so her head would rest between them.

"Don't fight it."

She let out a distressed noise before another heave rocked her frame. It was more clear this time as it rolled down and joined the combined mess on the floor. Hiccups started shortly after as she tried desperately to breathe in the cramped position.

Snape vanished the mess wandlessly before helping her to slowly sit up. His hand moved from her back to her head as she managed a few deep gulps of air. Her teary eyes turned to his filled with confusion and fear.

"It normal." He assured, pulling his handkerchief from his pocket wiping a bit of drool and blood from her chin. "Your natural magic is starting to return." He tucked the clothe away cupping her heated face to keep her steady. "It'll pass..." His voice hypnotic he watched her pupils dilate to his voice.

Her hands rose shakily holding onto the crook of his elbow as the pounding in her head started to abate. She blinked at him slowly, oddly, she felt stronger, not weaker. A warmth, like a tiny candle coming to life inside her chest. It made her skin hum with power.

"That's it." He watched a shadow in her eyes start to lift, the color, more beautiful than previous, started to fill in around the edges. He could feel her magical core thumping powerfully against his own. It was, remarkable.

Hermione let her eyes close for a brief moment as she centered in on the new feeling. It felt amazingly powerful, exceptionally raw and untamed. She reopened her eyes taking a final calming breath.

Snape watched her calm down and extracted his hands. He hissed a little as he finally noticed his knee. Hermione shifted as he sat back onto the other leg pulling a bit of glass from the bone of his knee cap without so much as a flinch.

Her hand moved of its own accord, like her body knew exactly what it was doing, and cupped over it. A soft glowing light left her hand for a brief moment and she pulled back. The cut was completely healed and the cloth mended. She blinked looking at her palm.

Severus too, looked down at her hand, it was a great surprise to him that she'd been able to even focus her magic so quickly after its return, even more amazing, was that it was done silently and without a wand. Never a dull moment with Hermione Granger, he mused.

She gave him a soft sheepish smile like she hadn't just thrown up all over him. "Is that normal?"

Severus himself didn't actually know but for the sake of her ego fitting through the door frame, he gave her a small nod.

"So...what does this mean?"

"It means... we're going to have to find you a wand...until then you're going to need to be very careful." He warned, coming to his feet. He shifted over to the sink filling a glass with cool water and set it down for her.

Hermione nodded in understanding wrapping her hand slowly around the cup, she flicked her eyes to him before taking a grateful sip. Her hands tingled but in a good way. Draining the glass she lightly pushed it away and looked down at her hands. She ran her fingers over her palm, was this the true power she held? Was this what had drawn the creature to her in the first place? How had it returned? Didn't the Tamashiheki feed off magic? She tilted her head as she cycled through the information in her head, no, it didn't feed off magic, not specifically, it used the magic the victim had to create its illusions. She pinched her face, was that why the vault was so strong? Was it she, who was actually creating the perfect defense while it sought to eat her soul? She shifted uncomfortably unaware that the kitchen table was starting to lift up.

"Granger!"

"Huh?" The sharp use of her last name snapped her out of her thoughts, she winced slightly as the table thumped back onto the floor. She blinked and pointed to herself.

"Yes." He huffed softly but though his voice was rough, his face didn't hold the same edge to it. "Be careful." He warned again placing a plate in front of her. "You're going to need to control your emotions even more now. The last thing we need is for you to blow up half of the house."

She gave him a bit of a face, she seemed to recall his certain prejudice against windows. He gave her a look that told her he'd heard her and quickly picked up her sandwich. She knew he was right, she just didn't want to hear it again.

He gave her a small shake of his head before turning away to clean the cauldron that he'd nearly ruined.

The clock chimed softly, indicating that it was 8 o'clock. Hermione turned glancing at it before setting down her half-finished sandwich.

"Does this mean I can brew potions?" She asked innocently licking up a bit of sauce from the corner of her lip.

"Maybe." He really didn't want her or anyone touching his equipment. He started to scrub the bottom of the cauldron as he thought of what to do.

Hermione smiled, it wasn't an outright no, she leaned back reclaiming her sandwich. Her eyes lazily rolled around the room before finally landing back on him, noticing he'd rolled up the sleeves of his coat and shirt. Every once and a while he would turn far enough and she was able to see a sort of discolored scar on his arm. She absently scratched the one on her arm as she leaned trying to see what it was.

"Oh my god!" She squeaked her hands coming up to cover her mouth. His frock coat and dress shirt had suddenly vanished! Eyes wide she couldn't stop them from wandering all over his exposed skin. He was like a marble statue! The only difference being the large scars that swept over his back and around his ribs discoloring his alabaster skin. His waist was lean and there didn't seem to be an extra inch of skin anywhere. How old was he again? It was then, she noticed, he wasn't moving. Oh, shite. Hermione turned and all but fell out of her chair, half crawling, she fled; a fumbled apology falling from her lips as she escaped into the sitting room a blush creeping all the way down her neck.

Snape remained where he was, his blood pressure had skyrocketed to near stroke-like levels. He counted to ten using that time to imagine all sorts of ways he could lock the girl up in her room until he could finally be rid of her. At his final count, he pulled his hands from the soapy water and dried them as calmly as he could. He knew he'd have to pass by the sitting room to reach the stairs. He just hoped for the girl's sake that she was hidden away from his line of vision.

Hermione was trembling with fear and embarrassment. She could hear his heavy steps coming closer and pressed farther back in his chair. When she heard his steps land on the stairs she very cautiously peeked over the back, her curiosity having won out. Her large eyes watched the muscles of his back flex as he went up. It was definitely not a bad view, her mind cooed as he disappeared from sight. She smirked recalling the little dimples near his tailbone before sinking back into the chair. She was in so much trouble.

Snape ripped open his closet pulling out a fresh shirt and coat, charming them to resist vanishing charms, a spell he hadn't needed since his own Hogwarts days. As an afterthought, he charmed his trousers as well. The logical side of his mind was trying to remind him that the girl hadn't meant to do it. That her reaction to his nakedness had been one of embarrassment. His dark side was still trying to come up with ways to get her back for her carelessness.

As he returned, his logical side had thankfully taken over, he gave the sitting room a glance and let out a noise akin to a bull preparing to charge before turning back into the kitchen. Let her stew in her mishap, it was a balance between the two halves, at least one he wouldn't have to explain away blood stains for.

Hermione sat stock still as she heard him come back down not even daring to breathe. She winced at his very convincing bull impression, remaining a stone until she heard him moving about in the kitchen. She curled her lips in, looking down at her traitorous hands.

She had gone from one emotional spectrum all the way through to the other in just a matter of hours. Her brain was still lagging behind and it gave her a bit of a headache. She sat on her hands trying to concentrate on staying calm. She'd already seen what she could do when she was thinking too hard and when her curiosity grew too strong. She wasn't very eager to find out what happened when she got upset.

Snape used his aggression to get his cauldron spotlessly clean. His arms ached from the force of his scrubbing but he was satisfied with the results. He was finally coming down from his embarrassment and glanced at the wall between the two rooms. The clock on the wall chimed 9:00 and he finished putting away the cauldron.

He noticed she'd not finished her dinner and frowned, he didn't like the idea of starving her to death. The image of her near skeleton appearance when she'd first arrived was still a very unpleasant memory. He groaned lowly at his weak nature and turned toward the icebox. He pulled out an apple, cutting and coring it with a wave of his hand; he added the slices to the plate before picking it up. He'd have to face her eventually, he might as well do it with an offering of food. He came into the sitting area happy to see everything was still in its proper place. He rounded his chair and looked down at her. Her eyes were closed but they were moving, her hands wrapped around her knees as she focused on whatever it was she was doing.

"Out." He drew the word long, his tone firm but not angry.

He smirked as she quickly vacated his chair, she stood out of his way brushing her palms against her jeans as she fidgeted. He took his chair calmly, his face completely blank. Without so much as a glance at her, he sat the plate on the table to the side.

"Eat." He pulled his hand away, folding it into his lap and finally, turned his eyes up at her a brow raised. She looked confused at his tone before cautiously picking up the plate. She kept her eyes on him as she backed herself into the lounge sitting down slowly. She noticed the addition and picked up an apple slice, she watched him closely before bringing it under her nose as if checking for something.

He let out a soft snort, "If I wanted to poison you. You'd never smell it." His lips curled just a bit as her eyes widened.

Hermione blinked dumbly for a few seconds before taking a cautionary bite. Was he joking with her? There was no way. Not after what she'd done. She tore her eyes away as the sweet taste of the apple garnered her attentions. Death by apple, she mused internally, how cliche. She swallowed down the piece, her stomach contently rumbling at its new addition. She glanced over at him again before pulling her legs up onto the lounge crossing them so she could place the plate into her lap. She was trying to figure him out. She was careful not to put too much focus on it as she picked up another slice slipping it completely in her mouth. She felt a small ping against her consciousness like someone had tossed a ping-pong ball against a wall. She blinked and let her mind round on it. Her eyes widened as she was suddenly able to hear his thoughts. Not just the ones he would send to her occasionally, but his entire dialogue. This was new, she had heard him speak to her before, but mostly she could just feel his words, she'd never heard him in his mind talking to himself before. She slowly brought another piece to her mouth as she listened in.

Most of his inner dialogue centered around what to do with her and her new magical prowess, the other bits were mulling over what to do with the spell she had finished for him. She paused at that thought. She had solved the problem? She was a bit shocked to hear that. She didn't even think her solution held any merit. She was relieved to find that he thought it might be worth giving a try. A third thought was a bit farther away, barely given any attention. She took another slow bite as she tried to figure out just what it was without getting caught. Did he know she could hear him? She glanced at his face that was staring into the fireplace. He didn't appear to. She swallowed down her bite and tiptoed out, she tried to imagine the boundary between them coming up like a large wall. It seemed to work as his inner thoughts started to fade out.

Severus had felt something lightly brushing against his mind but ignored it. He kept an eye on the girl quietly eating her food. She appeared to just be sitting there, but he was sure there was something more to her intense stare. He decided to let it go, turning his gaze to the fireplace. He had to come up with a reasonable plan of action. She would finish her food soon and there would be nothing to fill that persistent mouth of hers. He shifted in his chair, a small strand of hair floated in front of his eyes catching his attention. He pulled it slowly from the fabric looking at it with a small frown. He dropped it away to the floor resting his chin on the back of his hand. He could still feel her eyes on him and it left him uneasy. He crossed his legs and sat up just a bit straighter. A plan. He needed a plan.

Hermione was just taking the last few bites of her sandwich when he startled her by standing abruptly. She licked her lips slowly, watching him curiously. The insufferable man in black moved over to his bookshelf running his fingers over the titles until he pulled out a most curious one with a pink cover. Hermione took the last bite of her sandwich setting the plate aside. She held her ankles to keep from rushing over to see what he had. She straightened when he looked at her. Swallowing uncomfortably, she watched him size her up before snapping the book shut.

"Wha-"

"Stay." His raised hand cut off her question and he turned leaving the sitting area.

She watched him leave, brows furrowed with indignity. Finally, she recognized what had been bothering her about his tone. I'm not a puppy to be trained! She noticed the books on the shelves trembling and tried to quickly quiet her mind again. She vowed to revisit the topic at a safer time.

Severus turned out of the sitting room going towards the entrance way. He turned into a small doorway and reached up turning on a small lantern at the ceiling. The room glowed softly and he turned his eyes towards the door at the far wall. He had never used the room, as it was where he'd moved all the personal artifacts of the home he'd currently taken possession of were. He supposed the room was actually supposed to be a study, but as it held no fireplace Severus found that it was too cold in the winter to stay in and decided to make the sitting area his all-purpose room. He moved down the small aisle he had made and pulled open a closet door. He had found a bit of valuables in the home during his initial sweep. He didn't really care for shiny objects himself but he felt as though he shouldn't destroy them. After all, they weren't his. He sighed heavily through his nose as he shuffled through a few boxes, he opened a few but found they didn't suit his purpose and pushed them back. He let out a low growl and shut the closet. He'd have to make it through the night. He came back in, surprised that she had actually listened to him and set the book on a nearby shelf.

"Miss Granger, would you like to take a bath?" He turned slowly his eyes snapping to her back; she had turned away from his chair, she definitely moved but she never sat that direction.

"Miss Granger?" He narrowed his eyes a bit coming closer.

"Hm?"

"Would you like to take a bath?"

"Not really..." She dragged herself around to face him looking awfully guilty for something.

"Well, I would very much like a shower, however, given your current condition, I would feel much safer if you would come upstairs with me." He offered his hand out for her to take, trying to peek into her mind to see what she'd done, he was a bit surprised to find a small wall between them and sharply looked to the girls face trying to catch her eyes.

"What, exactly, have you been doing in your meditative silence?" He drawled pulling back his hand.

She bit her lip a bit and looked to the side before softly mumbling, "Trying to get into the vault..." She wiped at her nose hastily and it was then he noticed a small droplet on her sweater.

He frowned and resisted the urge to shake some sense into her. He instead, pinched the bridge of his nose, his teeth were going to disappear at the rate he was grinding them. He let out a slow breath falling back into his professor like persona. It always got the best reaction when he needed her to do something.

"Stand up," He leaned down and with careful control, took a gentle hold of her arm. He waited for her to acquiesce before guiding her toward the stairs. "Up the stairs." He continued his instruction watching her take the steps with almost natural ease. When they got to the landing he gave her a gentle push leading her into her room. He led her to the rocking chair, "Sit down." She made no protest her head having hung down with shame. He pulled his hand back and leaned down on his knee to catch her eyes, "Do not, I repeat, do not attempt to do anything magical, mental or otherwise until you have a wand." His finger was pointed at her nose, "I will not have all my efforts wasted because you couldn't keep yourself controlled."

She raised her eyes to his and slowly nodded her head.

"Can I trust you to do this?"

Her eyes widened a bit at the weight of his words. She took a slow breath, "Yes, you can trust me."

She would have sworn that his eyes could pierce straight through her soul at that very moment. She tilted her head back as he stood.

"I'm going to shower, you are going to get ready for bed and go to sleep. You may not feel fatigued now but it will pass. You have a very long day tomorrow. I suggest, you don't waste this reprieve. "

He didn't wait for her answer turning on his heel he flicked his hand to her bathroom door the lock thunking heavily into place before he swung her door shut a little harder than necessary.

It took him no time at all to shower and prepare himself for bed. He kept the connection between them open listening to her settle down for sleep. She hadn't been happy with his tone. She was, however, abiding by his request to keep herself controlled. She had started a small monologue inside her head, simply reciting the alphabet and the longest word she could think of to go with each letter. It was dry and boring but it kept the other thoughts at bay as he felt her start to relax into sleep.

Severus himself was just starting to get into his pajamas as he pulled back from her mind. Satisfied that she had done what he had asked he pulled on his night clothes, happy for once, to get a chance to actually put them on. He was so dreadfully tired of sleeping in his frock coat. He glanced toward the window noticing the moon was starting to rise before pushing himself into bed. He looked towards the bathroom door shutting and locking it with a flick of his hand before he let out a deep breath settling down onto his back trying to let his own mind wind down from the day. As the night waned on, Severus had moved onto his back. His mind having run in circles well into the late hours of the night.

Now, the beginning hours of the new day found him blissfully resting. His head turned into the hand on his pillow the other stretched out into the empty space beside him. The waning moon shone over his form, the blanket having been kicked down to his waist allowing the soft light contrast his pale skin against the dark grey of his shirt. He was languidly falling down into a dream, the world forming gradually around him.

He was walking the halls of Hogwarts, his heavy teaching robes fluttering dramatically behind him as he searched for students out of bed. He silently turned a corner when a flash of long summer brown hair fluttered by just around the next bend. He smiled to himself as he thought about the perfect punishment, quickening his pace hoping to catch the little Gryffindor doing something even more infracting. As he rounded the corner he came to a halt.

The corridor had suddenly flared to life, a long trail of blood painted the floor, his eyes followed the trail that disappeared around the far end.

A large fire roared up behind him accompanied by the most agonizing scream his ears had ever heard. It echoed off the stone as if it came from all around him. He turned, his heart rising in his throat.

He ran, following the trail of blood, every sconce he passed grew and spread down the walls as if chasing him. As he turned the final corner he skidded to a stop in a pool of blood. His eyes went wide.

"Lily?" He gasped staring at the ghost of the woman.

"Oh, Severus..." She looked at him so sadly, it hurt. It hurt so much, the disappointment in her eyes ran his blood cold.

"Lily..." He tried to beg for her forgiveness, anything to see her beautiful smile again.The woman just lowered her head, slowly floating aside.

His breath left his body. Hermione laid at the feet of Lily's ghostly form. Her body horribly twisted, back torn asunder; her school uniform had turned into a once beautiful white dress, now stained with his failure. He fell to his knees, unable to approach. He looked up at Lily, begging her to do something, anything.

"I can't..." She whispered softly looking at him so kindly."Only you can save her Severus...she needs...you..."

"But how...how can I?" His voice felt so foreign to his own ears."I can't...I..." He held his head in his hands a powerful pain running through his chest. "I don't...I don't know how..."

"You have all the pieces..." Lily had come closer now, her ethereal form leaning down over his.

He shook his head looking up at her his face so broken by confusion.

"There is only one more piece..." Her fingertips lightly touching his heart, "Let go, sweetheart..."

"I...I can't..."

"Let go..."

Snape jerked awake, his eyes wide. His hand brushed against something warm and wet on his face. Tears? He blinked his vision into focus as his heart slowly started to come down. It was then he noticed how heavy he felt. The hand that had brushed his face slowly lowered down, twitching slightly from the feeling of soft hair that most certainly wasn't his own. His head jerked up and he blinked through the moonlit darkness.

Hermione lay partially over him. Her head resting on his chest over his heart, her relaxed hand, resting over the other side of his chest. The entire length of her body was pressing against him. He could feel her hip pressing just under his own, her leg was bent over his, her thigh pushing up into something most uncomfortably. He hissed and very hesitantly lowered his hand, it jumped when it met her bare thigh. His mind ground to a halt and he lifted his head more checking that they were clothed.

He was still wearing his pants and tank top and a second look over the girl relieved him, she was wearing a t-shirt, that hung loose, his finger lifted just a bit and he let out a breath when the fabric of her shorts met his finger.

Reassured, he continued with his original plan very gently pushing her leg away from his precious bits letting out a sigh of relief as the girl didn't so much as breathe out of sync from the movement.

His brain was very much awake now as he wondered just how the hell the girl had managed to get into his rooms again. His eyes moved to his door, it was closed. He turned his head carefully toward the bathroom door; it too was closed the lock still in place. He pursed his lips looking down at her again. Had he called her to him? It didn't seem possible. He'd never known anyone to be able to summon someone else and actually force their physical form to them. He thought back to his dream, had she come to him? Had Lily...brought her to him?

His brain felt fuzzy all of a sudden, the rise and fall of her chest mirroring his became too much to ignore. He let his head fall back, the arm that had been by his head came down and, as if lead by another, rest over top of Hermione's. Long fingers curled under keeping it in his hold. Snape twitched slightly as the fuzziness grew and his other arm came down around her back securing her place at his side.

His last conscious thought before he fell under was of Lily's beautiful smile and her soft words, "She needs, you..."

Late night gracefully turned into morning. Snape woke at first light, his body felt more refreshed than it ever had. The feeling of being truly rested and relaxed had been a long chased after feeling. He turned his head slowly blinking into the orange light. His hands moved next, his brain lazily reminded him that he was most certainly not alone. He lifted his head looking down at the woman who hadn't moved an inch during their rest. His fingertips tenderly brushed a bit of hair from her temple before he reminded himself exactly who he was touching. His hand jumped back as if burned, he was her teacher. Was...Another voice interjected into his internal struggle.

He took a deep breath closing his eyes again. She wasn't a child, she was a grown woman. He was her caretaker, he argued; the voice changed and his breath hitched, She needs you... He swallowed thickly and opened his eyes looking down at her peaceful face. Needed him...who in their right mind ever needed him? He pushed the voices away and slowly started to move. The woman against him let out a soft noise of protest curling her hand under her chin.

Severus moved exceptionally slow as he slid his body from under hers, another soft whine for his trouble, he could tell she was starting to wake and grabbed a pillow from the top of the bed and pressed it into her searching hand. He held his breath, half hunched over the edge as if he were facing down a dragon and waited for her to accept his replacement.

Hermione drew herself up into a ball against the pillow, wrapping her arms around it tightly; she pulled it under her chin nuzzling her cheek into it before settling back down.

He let out a slow breath standing fully on the floor. He then pulled the blanket that had fallen away, up to her shoulder shielding her from the chill. He went still at her sigh before deeming her completely out again. He turned away, silently opening his closet, he gave a backward glance before taking his clothing into the bathroom with him.

He felt substantially safer as he layered himself up, he went through his morning routine without interruption and was just starting towards the door when he heard her.

"Severus...?"

He turned sharply at the groaned usage of his name. His brows furrowed, he quickly realized she was still asleep. Her body had curled up even tighter. Her face was pinched with fear as the images moved through her mind.

"Please...Severus..."

His body turned, she sounded as if she was pleading. Curious he moved a bit closer.

"I...you...please...can't...all alone..." Her words were heavily slurred but he could make them out clearly enough.

"I'm here..." He whispered into her ear, it was the only thing he could think of to do.

He was taken back to what felt so long ago, to the feeling of her weighted broken body against his own. He looked at a loss of what to do before he decided to follow the tiny voice inside instructions. His hand came up to rest at the back of her head, his fingers gently threading through the sleep tousled curls. He watched with fascination as the worry on her face started to melt away.

It was so simple. He looked to his hand that usually was restricted and controlled beyond measure moving so effortlessly against her hair. A simple touch had calmed the most dangerous of storms. He would never have believed it possible, even with his own eyes, he felt unsure. Still, he continued until her pleading died away and her body relaxed once more.

His face held a wide variety of emotions as his hand continued its gentle path. He just couldn't understand, how could he have affected the girl that much, in such a short amount of time. Part of him knew that this new reality would fall away when they defeated the creature inside. When the vault would open and she would be reminded of who she truly was. He felt torn between allowing himself this brief moment of reprieve from the pain that had become his entire waking and sleeping reality. Another part of him asked if they were to fail, would he be able to let her go knowing the pain he had caused by denying her these small comforts.

His own heart ached as he tried to make a choice, a choice, between what was right and what was easy. He took in a deep breath, all his life he had been pushed to the edge of that very question. Nearly every time he had found himself making wrong choice, after wrong choice. His heart knew what his mind refused to acknowledge. Slowly, he pulled his hand from her hair.

He looked down at her sleeping form, his mind going silent as the smallest voice whispered out from his heart. He pursed his lips, his face going tight as he made his decision.