„What is going on?" Malfoy asks and her hand tightens around her wand, his voice sets her on edge
„Hermione, is everything ok?" Harry sounds worried
„Yes." She squeezes through clench throat „You just scared me. Professor...I'm taking care of it."
She doesn't know what to say. She provoked him, that was some strong magic. It must be nice to have that kind of power, but it is scary to feel it, especially if it's you who are its target.
„Severus?" asks Malfoy
„It is fine Lucius." He replies
'Gods, how he can sound so composed like nothing happened?' she wonders silently
She lowers her wand and Harry's shoulders slack. He turns to Aurors and whispers something to them. She clears her throat
„I am sorry, but professor needs his rest, I need to ask all of you to step out and let him rest." She uses the tone Matron often uses in hospital
Lucius glances over her to Snape and with sneer walks out. Harry waves her goodbye, mouths silent 'Around six' and disappears behind the door. Aurors are the last to exit, they have looks she doesn't like and her hand grips her wand once again. She can hear them murmur and recognises the words 'no hero', 'Death Eater' and 'sympathiser', she is sure there are more insults but she didn't manage to hear them. She nearly jumps at the sound of cold sarcastic drawl that rumbles behind her back
„Should Miss Granger inform her close and personal friends Harry Potter and Minister Kingsley of what you said Mr Riggs?"
She turns to find Snape with a familiar look on his face, one she saw too many times in the classroom, with one eyebrow raised and sneer. He is focused on the taller of two Aurors, blond one. Obviously, Snape heard him.
'What kind of hearing that man has?' she thinks with awe
Auror changes his posture, squaring his shoulders but looking insecure. He glances at her then Snape shakes his head and ushers his colleague out of the room. She finally relaxes, as much as it is possible, adrenalin still runs through her system. She glides her wand up her sleeve and turned to Snape, who now glares at her. She sighs
„Right, thank you." She nodded but he is silent so she continues „This was rather an eventful day so far. You should rest."
He glares at her for few long moments, then closes his eyes and takes a long breath, releasing it slowly. Meditation exercise for occlumency, she recognises it. She walks to the sofa and curls in one corner, setting the pillow more comfortably and wrapping the comforter around her. The room is not cold, but she needs to feel safe and cocooned like this give her sense of safety, she picked up that habit during her 'camping trip' in the seventh year. She reaches for her book, but she read that book already and there is a new one, unread, unfamiliar. She is still angry at Mrs Malfoy, but...what if she can learn something. Reluctantly, she takes the new book and opens it. The book is old and she holds it carefully, she starts to read and soon she is completely consumed by it.
~ S ~ S ~ S ~
Last moments of peace before the dunderheads start to plague his existence. He can already hear the commotion, reaching his office from the House common room. He still hates Welcoming Dinner, Parting Dinner or any other meal consumed in the Great Hall, but as a member of the staff, he is forced to eat there. In fact, since the last year, Albus insisted on it.
Loud banging forced him to raise his head from the last check of his syllabuses for this year. Minerva barges in, she never waits for his approval. They are...friends...of sorts, as much as it is possible for heads of two rivalling houses, which means that they have a non-aggressive banter with no low blows and no animosity, but they are both competitive. She looks flustered, that is not a good sign
„I need your help, Severus." Her voice is breathless and urgent „Albus and I have to receive first-years, but...Potter and the youngest Weasley male are missing. We can't even determine if they boarded the train, Milly notified us that she did take them to the station."
Fear! The cold hand of fear grips his stomach. Of course, it is Potter and Weasley! He raises from his chair and nodded to Minerva
„I will look for them, and notify you when I find them."
„Thank you, Severus."
Minerva looks relieved, she stretches her hand but pulls her back, not touching him. He is grateful. For years no one touched him without his explicit permission, Poppy is only one excluded from that rule. He goes in his quarters to grab a cloak. In all honesty, he has no idea where to look.
'Maybe Draco could tell him if he saw the two idiots on the train.' He thinks 'Merlin! I hope that Lucius didn't get any ideas. No, he isn't stupid or rash."
Gathering his things he mulls in his head who could have something against Potter, beside him, the list is long, too long. The air stops in his lungs and he forces himself to breathe. This summer many salon talks revolved around whispers of new uprise of the Dark Lord. Even if murmurs were unfounded he knew quite a few would jump to grab a slice of cake that was the downfall of Harry bloody Potter. The school owl swooped over his head, tossing a copy of Evening Prophet at his feet. He picks up the paper with the feeling of dread, justifiably so, front page blurs his sight with anger: FLYING FORD ANGLIA MYSTIFIES MUGGLES.
With no need to look for Draco, he strides through the hallways and into the courtyard. The cold trickle of sweat crawls down his spine and his hands shake slightly. Fear turned to relief, relief to anger while he searches the school grounds. Whomping Willow is hurt, angry and damaged. He passes it carefully not to get too close to a damn tree, it is nasty even on its best days, murderous on his worst. One more of Albus's brilliant ideas to preserve his precious Marauders. That blasted tree sent a good number of students to hospital wing or St. Mungo's depending on the damage it inflicted on the careless schmucks.
Fear, once again, block his breath as he searches for bodies or clues to where those two idiots are. Tracks lead from the three and he spots drag marks. Finally, he spots them looking through the window into the Great Hall
'Thank you, Merlin! They are alive and well.' He thinks, but gratitude turns to old anger when he hears their conversation. Anger fueled with fear still rushing through his veins.
He opens his eyes, gulping air like he was drowning. Fear and anger, he can still feel them, plaguing his system. His hands shake, every muscle quiver from the strength of the feeling. He closes his eyes silently praying that she didn't notice. Was he that scared at that time?
He longs for the sanctity of his walls, the piece of mind and numbness of the soul they provided. If he is alone he would scream, scream until he had no throat and no voice. Emotions, he is...unaccustomed...to have them. Fear and gutting pain, that was it, for decades. At least now he was feeling something familiar – fear. Fear that he won't manage to bully her out of his vicinity long enough to stop the pain, once and for all. His muscles were still shivering like he is completely naked on the snow.
„Snape, what's wrong? Are you alright?" her quiet voice is worried. No, he can't open his eyes now, she already knows too much.
Bed bends and shifts. She leans on him and her hands' ghost over his, she clenched both of his hands in hers.
„Will you cease and desist with all that...touching and leaning and..." he paused 'LIPS! What the fuck is she thinks she is doing?!'
She didn't move, her hands still clench his, he can feel her lips on his forehead. Then on a dip above the apex of his collarbone, his body went rigid on its own. She moved her lips to his forehead again. 'What is she trying to do?'
„Get off me Granger!" he protests
„You don't seem to have a fever, but you are shivering. I'll put more blanket on you, it's getting cold."
She removed herself from him and he felt relief. What is her angle now? Fever? Who checks fever by touching lips to forehead and neck? The weight of another comforter fell over him.
„Here you go. Try to rest, if you need anything I'm reading that book Mrs Malfoy gave me. You were right, it's interesting." She speaks lightly her voice is no more worried.
Maybe she decided to change her tactics to throw him off balance and off tracks? He peaks through slit eyes and eyelashes at her, she is lost in her reading. This must be some new trick of hers.
'Blast you to pits of hell, Lucius.' He growls in his head imagining the ways he'll elicit his payback on Lucius. She must have gotten the idea from all his pestering and jabs. Was that man working against him or to help him? Maybe she had an idea to persuade him to change his mind utilising more...natural charms. The ones that were given to her by nature more than magic. If she thinks that she could seduce him into changing his mind, she has another thing coming.
'Blast it! It is hot now. What is she trying to do? Cook him alive?' he sighs, he knows much more pleasant ways to go. He eyes her warily again, but she pays no attention to him and he relaxes just a bit.
Later that afternoon she stood up, checked on him, thankfully without touching and walked to the door. He watched her with trepidation as she stood there, lost in thought with a deep frown on her face.
~ S ~ S ~ S ~
She approached the door, it was nearly six o'clock and Harry will be waiting for her. She will have to explain a lot today. But the door was cracked open and she could hear Harry talking to Draco
„If you knew, you shouldn't tell her Potter."
„I didn't know it's a truth, Malfoy, it was just a stupid gossip."
„Yeah, thrust you to muck up things for everyone"
„Look, I didn't mean it. I didn't even think that she would remember it..."
„Of course she would remember, it's Granger you talk about!"
„If she knew she could make a problem for you, I'm sure she wouldn't say anything. And you shouldn't provoke her, you know."
„What I know is that she did open her big mouth..."
„She has...issues...true, but Hermione isn't bad, Malfoy."
„Sure. Just keep your bloody friend's nose out of other's people business from now on, Potter."
„Malfoy, if you just try to talk to her..."
„I may overlook some things for you, you did save my life, Potter, but I will not now or ever be even on remotely polite terms with Granger. Look, just keep her calm, sedate her with charm for all I care, I just don't want to see Snape hurt because she can't control herself." Growls Malfoy and steps are walking away.
She is stunned. 'How Harry can talk to Malfoy that way, he is the enemy, isn't he?