Chapter 11: The Lure Of Mystery
{A/N: Here's another update...}
My Thanks To My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.
The Study, 12 Grimmauld Place, Muggle World...
One might have believed the brightest witch of her age would have had the good sense to stay out of the basement after being repeatedly informed by her Potions Professor that he had not wished for nor did he enjoy her company, but that paled in comparison to her overly curious nature. More often than not she found herself leaving the friends she managed to make during her first year at Hogwarts as they amused themselves and turned her attention back to the man she was slated to marry the day she came of age. Professor Snape had often stayed out of sight unless he had been attending a meeting or reporting directly to Dumbledore. He always made the excuse of being surrounded by Gryffindors and how he being a Slytherin felt more comfortable on his own. Molly Weasley had tried her hand at mothering him only to be met with a wall of ice and jagged stone in terms of his wit and overall rejection of her annoying meddling.
Harry occasionally picked fights with the older wizard and found himself constantly backed by his godfather and Professor Lupin. Hermione often had rows with Ron over trivial things mostly having to do with his lack of sensitivity to the feelings or needs of others, namely her own. Snape had a few rows with Sirius Black that had to be quelled by Dumbledore but that was about it.
For the most part everyone either got along or avoided each other.
One particular late night however, Hermione Granger found herself sitting alone in the study with a book in her clutches. She had desired peace and privacy due to both Harry and Ron interrupting her private reading on a frequent basis to settle petty matters between them. It boggled the mind how often boys like her best friends frequently showed their immaturity. She began mentally comparing them to Snape before she could catch herself as she wondered what the difference had been between them.
It had occurred to her, that Snape had been gone for nearly a week taking off one afternoon and neglecting to return. There had been speculation on the part of the adults in the Order Of Phoenix that he had run into a bit of trouble while answering a summons from the despot Voldemort. Hermione had been attempting to keep her mind from speculating the worst and sought to read to do so.
The Black Family Manor had been silent as almost everyone had gone to bed.
The amber eyes of Hermione Granger shifted from her book to the elegant grandfather clock on the opposite wall from where she was seated. She was startled by a small crash coming from the entrance hall and a thud that took place afterward. The noise didn't seem to get anyone else's attention but it had certainly gotten hers.
Hermione got to her feet and carefully investigated the strange occurrence.
She ventured into the entrance hall and found herself exposed to a bloodied and battered body, male given the size and unresponsive from the looks of it. She quickly pulled her wand and cast a low lumos charm. She put a hand over her mouth to stop the shocked scream that threatened to awaken the household.
The bloodied and battered male had been none other than Professor Snape and he had apparently blacked out from his wounds.
Acting rather quickly, Hermione set to work getting the poor wizard down to the basement where she was sure he'd have supplies for just such an occasion. No one else had stirred in the manor, not even Kreacher came prowling at this late hour.
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The Basement, 12 Grimmauld Place, Muggle World...
Severus Snape had been feverish as his obsidian eyes struggled to focus his rather blurred vision. He was attempting to move but found his body would not obey his command given how beaten and exhausted he had been. He could vaguely make out a sweet voice calling to him and offering reassurance but he could hardly make out the face of the lovely figure before him.
He winced as soft delicate fingers ventured across his bruised deep purple flesh that had once been pale and further marked by scars. The sudden sensation of warmth filled him despite his agonized trembling. The injured Professor managed to grip what he could barely identify as bed sheets. His mind tried to make sense of the strange notion that he had been back in his basement at 12 Grimmauld place but for some reason he was surrounded by softness and warmth, the scent of his potions ingredients had been evident but he seemed to have been placed in a bed of some sort.
"Just hold on." said the sweet voice again as he tried to place where he had heard it before.
In his weakened state and delirium he called out to whom the voice had been in his head.
"Lily..." he said softly.
"Shhhh." came the voice dripping in understanding and sympathy.
He felt a node of rage swell within him. There had only been one witch capable of such annoying innocence and it wasn't Lily.
The Potions Master's obsidian eyes opened with a flicker of rage and he found himself face to face with Hermione Granger.
"What do you think you are doing?" he hissed in outrage despite his condition.
"I...You needed help sir." she said meeting his gaze despite her nervousness.
"And who gave you permission to go snooping about my quarters and fondling my person?" asked the embittered Snape.
"There was so much blood...and you needed help." said Hermione in her own defense.
"Afraid I was going to die before we were forced down the isle?" he asked with a sneer.
"I...No!" replied Hermione filling her own rage build. "I was only trying to help you...moody git..."
Snape rolled his eyes as he attempted to sit up. He noted that he had been bandaged across his torso and one of his wrists. He turned his attention to the bottle of firewhiskey that had been sitting on the table on the opposite end of the room.
"Accio Whiskey." he said reaching out with his apparently bandaged arm to collect it.
Despite the pain it caused he seemed to enjoy making Hermione wince at bit in reaction.
"Sir...I just gave you a good deal of potions to heal you...I don't believe drinking that is a good idea in combination." she said matter-of-factly.
"Who's The Potions Professor and who's the student that can't even manage an outstanding in his class despite all her incessant questions and useless fact memorizing?" he said sneering at her once more.
Hermione was indignant glaring at him as if she could breathe fire and placing her hands on her slender hips.
"I would have gotten an "O" if a certain moody git would have given me my proper grade but given his prejudice against Gryffindors or witches with even a small shred of intellect I am forced to suffer through inadequate grading." she countered. "And since we are on the subject of grading, your sloppy spidery scrawl looks as if it's something a barely walking child could manage."
Snape narrowed his eyes back at the young witch.
"Why don't you try sitting through a night of unforgivable curses and then grade parchment till mid-morning and let me see how your precious girlish scribble would look." he said annoyed. "I mean honestly, who thinks doing their work with hearts and smiling faces is a show of one's grasp of magical academics?"
"At least it's legible." Hermione shot back.
"You are nothing more than a silly little girl playing at adulthood." hissed Snape as his gaze turned cold. "You know next to nothing about the real world."
"And I suppose a cantankerous git sulking about in a basement has a better sense of the way things are?" asked Hermione still not willing to give an inch.
Snape turned up his firewhiskey and forced himself to his feet. His decision proved to be a mistake as he almost immediately became light-headed. Forgoing her initial annoyance at him, Hermione was quickly at his side before he hit the ground.
"You need to rest." she said in a stern tone.
Snape chuckled unsure if it was genuine amusement or the firewhiskey getting to him. She had reminded him a good deal of Minerva McGonagall when she really got going.
"It appears that I inspire something akin to mother-cub syndrome in you Gryffindor witches." he said still amused.
Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled when he allowed her to help him back into bed.
As she helped him, her hand rested against the non-bruised portion of his chest and his breath caught in his throat.
For a moment their eyes met and a flicker of something had been behind his obsidian eyes.
He reached up and pulled the unsuspecting little witch into a spur of the moment kiss. At the last second, he pulled away regaining his senses and passed out from the combination of pain, drink and potions.
Hermione had been stunned as her amber eyes fell upon the unconscious wizard. If anything were to be said about Professor Snape, it could be that he had been a vastly complicated wizard.
With a sigh, she covered him gingerly with a sheet in a bid to keep him from overheating and left him to his slumber. She made the journey up the stairs toward her own bedroom unable to get his frequent tendency for surprise kissing her out of her mind. She wondered briefly if his behavior would drastically change once they were back at Hogwarts. Either way, she was due to get her answer given they were headed back now that the summer was at an end.