Chapter Fourteen

"It's full of flowers" – Peter Gabriel

Severus woke up the morning of November 1st with the deep pain in his bones that only follows a Cruciatus curse. He sat up slowly and reached for the glass of water that Lottie had left for him. He noticed a dose of pain reliever there as well, his little elf knew the routine well. He downed the potion and sat up, he swore he could hear his bones creaking, and he was far too young for that. He stood and looked around the infirmary, thankful that it was empty since he was still only in his boxers. He made his way to the little bathroom next to the office to shower.

After the shower turned on, Hermione poked her head out of the office. She chose to make a run for instead of staying to face Severus, she knew that he would figure out that something was wrong and she wasn't ready to face that yet. She made her way to the tower, thankful when she entered and had some semblance of safety. She tucked herself into her room, she had no clue what to do. She decided that ignoring it and pretending that she didn't have feeling for her Professor was the best choice of action. Hermione was going to be able to return to classes the next day and she was thankful for that.

"Hermione?" A small voice called out. Hermione jumped and turned to the voice to find Faye standing there looking concerned. She let out a breath and sat on her bed, Faye walked up to her, "Are you ok?" She asked.

"I… Uh… I don't know…" Hermione said. She knew she could be honest with Faye, the girl was more Hufflepuff than Gryffindor.

"Did something bad happen?" The blonde girl asked.

"Not really, well kinda, but not really bad, just more awkward than anything." The brunette responded.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Faye asked

"I just realized I have a crush on someone, and I know that the feelings will never be returned." Hermione said somewhat solemnly. It was weird to admit it.

"How do you know the feelings aren't going to be returned?"

"I just know, there's a lot separating us."

"Houses?" Faye asked

"And that's just the start." Hermione responded.

"I'm sure you guys could work it out." Faye said, trying her best to give Hermione some positivity. Hermione shook her head, "Well if you want to talk more you know where to find me." Faye said as she got up, Hermione thanked her as she left the room and went back to hiding away from her troubles.

When breakfast time came around, Hermione dragged herself downstairs to the Great Hall. She sat between Harry and Faye, as Ron still wasn't speaking to her. "So Mione' are you looking forward to being able to rejoin us in class tomorrow." Harry asked

"Yeah, I've enjoyed working in the Infirmary but I miss my classes." She told him

"We've missed having your homework to copy." Harry said with a smile. Hermione smirked and shook head and her friend.

When Hermione finished her breakfast she made her way to the Infirmary, a flutter in her stomach. She wasn't sure if she was prepared to face Severus just yet, she hoped that he was preparing for his class tomorrow. Hermione pushed the doors open and breathed a sigh a relief when it was empty. She stepped in and made her way to the office, only to have the doors open and Severus step out. He had been looking behind him and Hermione was shocked to see that he had been smiling, well smirking, but not in his usual mean way. Her heart dropped though when she saw who was following, the tall man with long blonde hair was unmistakable, Lucius Malfoy.

"Ah, Miss Granger. I was just going to send an elf for you." Severus told her. Hermione did her best to not look down heartened at the fact that he referred to her formally, but she understood slightly, as Mr. Malfoy was a very formal man. "Would you mind staying here while I escort Lucius to the Headmaster's office?" He asked her. Hermione went to respond when Lucius over spoke her, "Are you sure it's ok to leave the Infirmary in the hands of a student?" He asked. Hermione squared her shoulders, ready to defend herself. "Oh no, Hermione is great at what she does. She treated Draco after the fight he got in." Severus explained. "Ah yes, the broken nose." Lucius responded looking down his nose at her. Hermione shrunk in on herself slightly, but tried to keep her face from showing her intimidation. The two men turned to each other, and even though no words were said, Hermione swore a conversation happened. Lucius smiled and turned back to her, "Ms. Granger what is your opinion on Slytherins? Do you think they're all evil?" He asked.

"No, actually I believe two Slytherins to be my friends." She told him

"I see, so is it just my son then? Did he deserve an un-numbed Episky?"

"In my opinion, sir? Your son deserves much worse than that."

"I see. And why do you think that?"

Hermione hesitated, she wasn't sure why Lucius was asking her these questions but she felt that it wouldn't end well. After all Draco had to learn these behaviors from someone. She looked to her potions professor and was surprised when he ducked his head at her, encouraging her to go on. She took a breath, squared her shoulders and looked to Malfoy Senior. "He's terrible to me, he bullies me and refers to me as Mudblood constantly." She told him. Hermione was floored to see Lucius's grey eyes soften slightly at her words. "Yes, sounds like Draco. Bad habits he picked up from friends of mine." He explained. What happened next was the single most surprising thing that's happened to Hermione in her life, even more surprising than finding out she was a witch. Lucius looked her in the eye with a type of compassion that she'd never seen from Draco before. "I apologize greatly for my son's behavior." Lucius said. Hermione stood there, shocked, she was sure she was gaping like a fish. "I hope that one day you may find it in your heart to forgive him, even if he doesn't ask for it." The man pleaded. Hermione looked at him for a long minute, then nodded "I will try my best, sir." Lucius smiled and turned back to Severus, "Well shall we continue to Albus's office?" He asked, Severus nodded "Yes, he's been waiting for us, let's not keep him any longer." The dark haired man replied. With that the two men exited the Infirmary, leaving Hermione to do her best to figure out what the hell just happened.

*~HGSS~*

Severus walked through the halls with the man who had been a brother to him for years. The two walked in silence as they usually did, their master had ears all through the castle and they couldn't risk the wrong conversation over heard. As they got closer to the Headmaster's office Lucius cleared his throat, "So, Miss Granger is an interesting Gryffindor." He started.

"Yes, the more time I spend with her the more apparent that becomes." Severus responded

"She mentioned that she has friends in the House of Snakes, is that true?"

"It seems like it, Mr. Zabini and Ms. Greengrass."

"Ah yes, the two who's families have stayed out of the wars, not surprising at all."

The two continued in silence for another minute before Lucius started again.

"She seems to have made a friend out of another snake as well."

"Lucius." Severus warned

"What?" The blonde man chuckled "I'm just saying."

"I have not made friends with a 17 year old that's also my student."

"She looked to you for support before addressing me."

"So?"

"You called her Hermione."

"And?"

"Lottie tells me that she calls you Severus now." At that Severus swore to throttle his elf, though he'd probably throttle the man next to him instead. "Lucius drop it. I'm not friends with Miss Granger." He said ending the conversation. Lucius just grinned at him, as Severus did his best to ignore him.

~*HGSS*~

Hermione sat in the Infirmary, it was relatively slow, only a couple people had come in since she'd been there, and for just minor things too. She was left most alone with her thoughts, which was never good for her. She couldn't stop thinking about Severus's eyes, the things that drew her to him the most. They were the only ways to ever see what he was really feeling, like just during her conversation with Lucius, they were full of amusement, and after bad meetings when he needed to be healed they pleaded for help while he tried to stay stoic. The more she thought about it the more she realized she was in far too deep.

~*HGSS~*

After escorting Lucius to Dumbledore, Severus made his way back to the Infirmary. Even though he trusted Hermione to be able to take care of anything that would most likely happen here, he didn't like leaving her alone for too long. Entering the room he found the young girl sitting at the back of the room by the office, her lack of reaction to someone coming in tipped Severus off to the fact that she was lost in thought. He approached her slowly, watching her facial expressions as she thought. They shifted wildly, usually coming to settle on a deep blush that spread across her cheeks. He was incredibly curious as to what she was thinking about. Feeling as though he was intruding, he cleared his throat. Hermione jumped and looked up quickly. "Sir! I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were here." She exclaimed. "What has you so deep in thought, Hermione?" He asked. "I-I-I- I'm not really sure sir." Hermione stuttered

"Really? I find that hard to believe. Hermione Granger not having her thoughts completely organized? Preposterous."

"Just teenage stuff I guess." She said looking down, as the blush came back. 'Ah, the bookworm has a crush' Severus realized, he grinned slightly as he made his way to the office. "Make a list of potions we need so I can have the cabinet filled for Poppy's return tomorrow. Please." He said as the door closed behind him.

He sat down at the desk and dwelled on what Lucius said earlier. It was odd to think of the young lady as his friend, but maybe in time it wouldn't be that way. Maybe he could let one more person in to his life.

A/N Woo! Interaction! Progress! Yay! The story will pick up a lot over the next couple chapters, which I will hopefully get up regularly. On another note, I had my first wedding dress appointment this week and it was magical. Now I'm dying to write a chapter of Hermione trying on wedding dresses.