For all the times he saved me

A/N: my my, that took a while didn't it? Sorry for the long wait, and also for this short chapter, but I made a promise I would finish this, and I'll be damned if I don't. Just getting my head back on this story... talk to me guys, tell me what you think. As you know, reviews fuel me. I'm just encountering some difficulties with trying to tie the beginning and the end of this story together... yeah... I already have the ending. Don't worry, I'll get it right... hopefully soon:P for now, On with the story:

She woke up with two words on her mind. The first was groggy, and the second was couch. She felt as though she had endured countless crucio's the day before. Her head was pounding, her limbs were heavy and, in short, she hurt. Everywhere. She faintly registered she was lying on something soft. Ah, the couch. She should really open her eyes now. She forced open one eye. Darkness. She opened the other one. That one picked up some light. Had she gone blind in one eye? No. Of course not. Silly girl. She adjusted her head a little bit. She'd been staring into a pillow. So much for being the smartest witch of her age.

The soft glow of a dying fire bathed the room in orange. She was squinting her eyes against the offending light, and her sight was hazy, but she could just make out her surroundings. The walls around the room were lined with shelves, all stacked with jars and books. A lab? Maybe. She tried to sit up. Bad move. Oh yuck. She decided her dinner did not look as appetizing as it had looked the night before. Thank god for the bucket which had been conveniently placed next to the couch. ... Now who would've put that there? It dawned on her she might not be as quick on the uptake as usual on this fine morning.

It took her another round with the bucket to notice the stone. A stone? Did she just throw up a stone? What the?

She sobered up immediately. Her mind was swimming with questions. How had a bezoar made its way into her stomach? Had she been poisoned? With what? Better yet, by whom? Who had found her? Who had given her the stone? Who's couch was she lying on? What the hell was going on?

A soft groan from across the room caught her attention. She glanced over, and saw two chairs standing in the shadows. Was there someone sitting there? Of course there was, ghosts don't usually groan. She needed more light. Now, where was her wand? She looked around her carefully, her stomach was settling down, and she really preferred keeping it that way. She spotted it, on an end table, just out of reach. Bugger. Let's try getting up then.

Severus groaned. He had never been more aware of how old he was really getting nowadays. Every nerve in his back was screaming at him for sleeping in a chair. He had fallen asleep not too long ago, judging by the soft light which made it through his closed lids. He was debating whether or not to open them When the decision was made for him.

"Oh Bugger" Her whisper was so silent, he wasn't too sure he'd heard it at all, even in the empty, quiet room. Though there was no question whatsoever about the next noise. She crashed from the couch, into the glass cabinet near the wall.

Remus was wide awake, though it took him a few moments to register anything around him. The first thing he noticed was the man next to him, his head in his hands, and looking as though he was silently deciding whether it was more appropriate to laugh, or to get angry. The second thing was the smell of bile. Ah, Hermione was up. He turned his head towards the quiet mutterings from the corner. He couldn't blame Severus for his indecision. He was torn between the same two emotions. The girl was sitting flat on her arse, her legs spread out in front of her, in the middle of the rubble which was once a beautiful glass cabinet. Filled with vials, both empty and filled. Her hair stuck out to all sides, with something remarkably resembling gillyweed stuck in some places. What a sight. After several moments, Severus looked up at him, and the both of them burst into laughter, a little because of the very dizzy and incredibly pissed young woman sitting on the lab floor, but mostly because they were relieved. She was alright. Disheveled, but definitely alright.

A/N: thanks for reading...