A/N: I don't own Harry Potter
This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Sci fi September - Someone being frozen and waking up in the future.
Word Count: 965
Her hand brushed the frost from the glass. The tiny white crystals sparkling on her denim blue gloves. She hadn't expected any of the cryo pods to survive, much less for one to still be functioning. Scraping off a little more ice, she could see the face of the man inside. He had a sharp beaklike nose, dark hair, and pale skin. His eyes were closed as if he were simply asleep. She carefully found the pinpad and studied it.
The lights were still working, the keys were iced over though. She wondered if it would even work if she typed in the code. This was the only pod still working, the only survivor of the ship Marauder. She traced her fingers over his face, wondering what his voice sounded like, what he would be like if unfrozen.
It had been over forty years since the ship had been destroyed, crashed on this desolate moon. Hermione knew the point of expedition was to see what was left and make sure no one could use it against them. It had taken nearly twenty years just locate the exact location of the downed ship, another ten to fund this trip, and the last ten to argue about why it was important that they do so.
She knew she should just leave the pod alone, forget about the gorgeous man frozen inside. Instead, she glanced around making sure none of her team was watching before quickly typing in the four numbers that appeared over and over in the logs for the ship.
The pod made a hissing sound, releasing the frozen air. Hermione held her breath. Just because the pod appeared to be functioning did not mean the man inside was still alive. Or if he was alive, that he would survive the process of being reanimated. She watched as his chest started rising and falling, as his skin grew slightly less pale. His eyes fluttered open, as he took a deep breath. She watched as his eyes focused, first on nothing and then on her.
"Who are you?" he asked, his voice raspy from lack of use.
"Hello, I'm Doctor Hermione Granger. I'm part of an expedition to destroy the remains of the Marauder before they fall into enemy hands. Do you remember your name?" she asked. She knew every name of the crew, having studied the ship's log several times.
"Severus. Severus Tobias Snape. I was the chief medical officer," he answered. "What of the rest of the crew, where are they? And how long has it been since I was frozen?" he asked, stiffly standing up from the pod.
"Contact was lost about forty years ago. The rest of the crew did not survive the crash. Do you know what caused it?"
"We were attacked," Severus answered. "I do not know by whom. That is all I can tell you, I'm afraid. The order to evacuate was sent, and I went to my pod, only apparently it never launched, since it appears I am still aboard the ship?
"You are, we found the rest of the crew. It looks like only a few made to their pods, the rest were killed elsewhere."
"The other pods?"
"Destroyed, malfunctioned," Hermione answered.
"I see, and Dr. Granger, what do you plan to do with me?" Severus asked. "Study me like a lab rat?"
"No, that is not my intention. There are some that would think that is a good idea, see what we could learn, but no. No one knows about you, that you survived. I wasn't supposed to be messing with the pods. I was supposed to report what I saw and nothing else. The rest of my crew is exploring the rest of the ship."
"I see. Where does that leave us then?" he asked, looking at her. She shrugged slightly.
"I could lie, tell them that I found you alive, somehow? I mean, no one ever would doubt me. I could tell them I saved you from a malfunctioning pod, it'd be close enough to the truth. You might have died if I hadn't released you."
"Does it matter what you tell them, they'll still want to interrogate me, dissect me."
"No one is going to do dissect you, Severus. You're my responsibility now, I guess I'll just have to make you my assistant. You'd have my protection and you would be of help since you know the ship, and have some memory of what happened."
"I'd be your assistant. What would that involve exactly?"
"Helping me with my notes, fact checking."
"I would be miserable at that, since there have surely been thousands of new discoveries?"
"I can help you adapt to the new world, it's not as different as you think, I'm sure," Hermione stated. Severus nodded slowly.
"Come on, we should head back to base, someone might be looking for me and the sooner I get your introduction over, the sooner we can tell them all to sod off about making you a lab rat," she laughed. Severus followed her, taking one last look back at the pod where he'd apparently spent the last forty years.
"It's going to be alright," Hermione stated, putting a hand on his. "I'm here for you," she added, giving him another smile. He nodded slowly as the pair walked from the room, Hermione still unsure exactly how she felt about Severus.
Would it be wrong to be attracted to him, would it be wrong to wonder if he was a good kisser? He was twenty years older than her if one counted his actual age... but did him being frozen.. did that make him the same age as her, and if it did, should she act on these feelings she was trying to pretend weren't developing?