Chapter Four

Firewhiskey was child's play. Severus pushed the bottle aside and reached further back, where the strong stuff awaited him. That's what he needed. His eluvia and the Dark Lord's demands for more information… These past few days had taken a toll on him, and Severus was the sort to relieve his stress the easy way.

Hermione said goodnight to Harry after dinner and continued to her rooms. Severus hadn't been at the teachers' table; did he get called for a Death Eaters meeting? If he did, then she had better stay awake until he came back. She'd have to go heal him anyway.

She settled by the fire (Blaise hadn't come back yet) and put her nose into her Transfiguration book. She needed to catch up on what she missed when she was daydreaming. Being an eluvia wasn't so bad after all; she could do it. Even if it did mean sticking around Severus Snape for the rest of her life; she could probably carry a life of her own. She could still have a husband and children, why not? Severus could only hurt himself so much…

Her eluvian instinct suddenly lifted its head, sniffing the air. Hermione felt the familiar pulling sensation of needing to be somewhere, to help him. She jumped up and let her feet carry her to the dungeons.

"Open the door, Professor!" she said, knocking on the door. She heard some sort of groaning inside. "You know I've got to help you, so get over yourself!" she yelled, stomping her foot on the ground. Then she pulled out her wand, mumbling insults, and waved it at the door.

He was lying on the floor, swinging a bottle of hard Wizard's liquor above his head and watching the liquid slosh.

"Professor!" Hermione gasped. "You're not hurt; you're drunk!"

"So I am!" he said, suddenly coherent. He lifted his head to glare at her. "What are you doing here, eluvia?"

"I… Well, I'm supposed to heal you!" she said, throwing the door shut behind her. He winced at the loud noise, dropped his head hard back onto the floor, and winced again.

"Bloody hell," he hissed. "Why did I have to be yours?"

"It's not fair, is it?" she sighed and crossed her arms. What was she supposed to do with him? Heal him? She'd rather let him suffer in the morning, but he probably had a potion for that.

She watched warily as he stood, secretly hoping he'd fall over so she'd have a good reason for healing him. Her eluvian instinct was pushing her to help him, but she stubbornly resisted. He stumbled a bit and then straightened up to glare at her.

"Get out," he snapped. Hermione almost smiled at his attempt at a truly intimidating look.

"I can't," she replied. "It's your fault I'm here tonight."

"Then I'll put you out, witch," he said and set his bottle on the nearby table, where it almost tipped over. Hermione laughed as he made her way toward her.

"Don't be stupid; you can't even walk in a straight line, let alone catch me," she mocked. He stopped again and tilted his head to the side. "Don't move your head too far or you'll fall over," she smirked. It was actually a truly amusing sight once she got past the initial shock. He made a noise of disgust and reached for his bottle again. Hermione sighed, her responsibility getting the best of her, and stepped forward.

"Bugger off," he said quietly, his lips nearly touching the bottle to take another swig.

"I'm going to help you. Come here," she said. She was almost touching him when he jumped away, glaring daggers at her.

"I don't need your help, damn you," he said. His black eyes were filled with hate and regret. Hermione blinked, not expecting the sudden animosity from her professor. Then she tightened her grip around her wand and raised it. He scowled at her, threw down his bottle, and grabbed her wrist.

"You're hurting me," she said between gritted teeth. Her head tilted back as she locked her golden eyes to his. She never knew he had this much strength in one arm. His grip loosened but his eyes were still hard.

"I'm sorry, eluvia," he said, "I didn't mean to."

"Sano," Hermione sighed. She felt warmth transfer from her wrist to his hand. It must have spread all over his body because he went rigid for a moment. As soon as he relaxed again, Hermione felt the strength leave her body.

"Hold on," Severus grunted as she fell to her knees. He kept her from hitting too hard by the hold around her wrist. Then he bent down, picked her up, and deposited her on his bed again.

"It takes a lot to heal a drunken idiot," she growled weakly.

"A hundred points from—"

"Shut up."

Severus crossed his arms, still standing over her, and glared down. She had closed her golden eyes, her chest already beginning to rise and fall lazily.

"You don't need to bleed for me," she breathed. "I just need to sleep now."

"You don't know better," he retorted. Hermione murmured incoherently and rolled onto her side, already falling into a deep sleep. He pursed his lips for a second and decided it was better not to use up his ingredients when it wasn't necessary. Then, with an irritated sigh, he pulled the blankets around her shoulders and pushed her white curls off her face.

He hadn't meant to hurt her when he grabbed her, but he still regretted it. He was supposed to be making it up to Emily, not repeating the hurt he caused. He also didn't know that intoxication would provoke his eluvia, hence the many unopened bottles of liquor in Severus' trash later that night.

Severus rolled very gracelessly off the couch the next morning.

Damn," he growled, forgetting for a moment why he wasn't in his own bed. He made his way to his bedroom and looked in quietly. She was still there in his bed, in the same position she was in when she fell asleep, and looking completely peaceful. She hadn't recovered yet then. Severus got into his wardrobe quietly and then retreated to his bathroom. When he looked in the mirror, he realized it was the first time he looked decent after a night of drinking.

He left to teach two classes, and when he came back, she was still sleeping. She was right, it must have taken a lot to destroy all the alcohol in his blood and prevent a hangover the next morning. Internal inflictions must take more healing power. He checked on her often to ensure her health was alright. She barely moved in her sleep, hardly made a sound, even when Severus slipped her shoes off. He had a house elf bring a tray of dinner to his bedroom and set it on the nightstand. Then, the next morning, the elf replaced it with a new breakfast tray.

He had just woken up and was grading papers when he heard soft noise further in.

"Ooh, pancakes," he heard her exclaim. He shook his head slightly with amusement and wandered into the bedroom.

"They should still be hot," he said, leaning on the door frame and crossing his arms. She looked up and greeted him with a smile.

"How long have I been sleeping?" she asked.

"About a day and a half."

"No wonder I feel so well rested," she said around a mouthful of toast. "I'm starving, though, thanks."

He nodded and his eyebrows rose as she crammed a rather large forkful of eggs into her small mouth.

"I can see that," he smirked.

She looked up at him suddenly, her cheeks stuffed with food, but remembrance dawned in her eyes.

"You were piss drunk!" she said. "Your bad habit is the reason I missed classes yesterday…"

"Careful," Severus growled, annoyed that she brought it up again. He could secretly admit that he had embarrassed himself. "I'm still your professor."

She twisted her lips to the side, wondering what her limits were with him.

"Why were you drinking anyway?" she asked after swallowing all the food.

"That's not your business," he said.

Hermione's interest piqued. She wondered, maybe, possibly…

Severus watched as she jutted her head forward a little, bit her tongue, and stared at him so hard that he was afraid her eyes would fall out. He felt a little poke at his mind…

"Ha!" Severus laughed, actually laughed. Hermione blinked, immediately losing focus, and then looked indignant. "Are you trying Legilimency on me? That was pathetic."

He turned and started back toward his grading, still chuckling inside at the girl's very comical take on Legilimency. Hermione pulled herself out of the tangles of blankets, put her shoes on, and straightened her robes before following him out crossly.

"Goodbye, drunkard," she huffed. He waved one hand, not even looking up at her because he didn't want to reveal the smirk that still remained. Hermione slammed the door extra hard as she left.

Severus eyed the door warily, knowing that if he kept making her angry the door would eventually fall off its hinges.

Hermione tried to calm her hair, wild from sleeping so long, and smooth the creases out of her robes before entering her morning class and taking her seat.

"Headmaster Dumbledore has given me permission to use this curse on each one of you. It will not hurt you and you won't be forced to do anything traumatic when you are under the Imperius Curse. What you need to try to do is throw off the curse," Professor Scorne said, tapping his wand thoughtfully on the palm of his other hand. Hermione shifted from on foot to the other and shared a nervous look with Harry. They had gone through this before with "Professor Moody," but it went alright then. There was just one snag now.

Hermione couldn't be cursed.

"Act sick. Leave," Harry whispered hurriedly. Hermione nodded. Their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher wasn't completely cruel; strict, excessively, but not cruel.

"Mister Potter, you're up," Professor Scorne said loudly, "since you insist on talking over me. Miss Granger is next."

"Professor, I don't feel well; I should go to the hospital wing," Hermione said, trying her absolute hardest to lie. He glanced over her once.

"There's no need to run from me, Miss Granger, I promise it won't hurt," he replied shortly and approached Harry.

"No, really, I'm going to be sick," she breathed and started to stand.

"Sit down!" he snapped. Hermione plopped back down dumbly and watched as Harry tried to resist hopping up and down. She turned her head and looked toward the door where it called to her. Professor Scorne wasn't looking, maybe she could sneak away.

"Where are you going?" said Blaise, who sat directly behind her.

"Shh!" Hermione hissed and tried to crawl past him.

"Merlin, Granger, you're a disgrace to the disgusting Gryffindor House," Draco sneered.

"Miss Granger, come back!" the professor suddenly snarled and Hermione flinched. She stood, getting ready to dart out the door. "Imperius!"

Hermione felt the spell hit, but then it just fizzled away inside her as if it were simply a tickle in her stomach. She gulped as the professor's thin face crinkled in confusion.

"Professor, don't," Hermione said quietly and turned to leave.

He waved his wand again, his expression very concentrated, and everyone watched the light hit her. She gazed back at him with awareness fully in her eyes. Hermione could feel her face growing red and her palms getting sweaty.

"How are you resistant?" he asked softly, a surprising change in the professor's typically tense tone. She shook her head and then turned on her heel to rip out of the door. "Miss Granger, wait!" she heard him call out the door, but she was already running down the stairs.

"Oh no, oh no," Hermione gasped as she skidded into the dungeons and found Severus in his empty classroom. "Professor!"

"What is it?" he asked, wondering why she'd be back so early.

"Professor Scorne used the Imperius on me and everyone saw and the curse didn't work!"

"What did you tell him?" Severus asked, beginning to look a little concerned.

"I ran!"

"You-…" Severus shook his head and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I'll talk to him."

"What do I tell people?" she asked breathlessly, pushing her fingers against a cramp in her side. Severus set his elbows on the desk and stared at his interlaced fingers for a moment while Hermione continued to pace in front of his desk.

"Simply tell them that you threw off the curse," Severus said. "There's no other way." Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but then realized her professor was right.

"Alright," she said quietly. "Are you going to tell him about me?"

"I think the headmaster is going to have to inform your teachers, yes, but he won't say who you protect," Severus said thoughtfully. "We don't want this to happen again. Your professors will keep it quiet; they know the danger you could be in."

"Right," Hermione exhaled, holding her white curls back from her face. Severus studied her for a second, watching the panic melt off her face. Then she gave him a gentle smile. "Thank you for helping me, like you said you would."

Severus felt his chest warm a little under her golden gaze, a feeling completely foreign to him. Perhaps having an eluvia had effects on him, too… only no, Severus knew that wasn't true. This was something that existed in every living thing, something that naturally existed… What was it called?

"You'll miss your next class, eluvia," he said. "Go on."

Draco Malfoy sped up the stairs to the owlery, a letter to his father held tight in his hand. If there was a way to withstand Unforgivable Curses, Lucius Malfoy should know about it and Draco wanted to be the one to help him figure it out.

Severus listened to the door click behind Hermione as she left and then his eyebrows knitted together in sudden, mystifying insight as he figured out what the warmth meant.

Fondness.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter but I do own eluvian!

Aw, Severus actually has feelings! Haha. The plot is about to be thrown forward, by the way. Stick around and find out what happens...

Thanks, reviewers! Do it again, because I love you more each time:)

Love!

Soline

PS I just thought I'd also point out that I got the title idea from 'Nightwish.'