Not the best of Birthdays.

Disclaimers as in chapter 1.

Sooo late in posting. Was trying to get smut in this chapter but it takes so long for me to write it how I want it (surprising considering how much of it there is in my head) ;-) Anyway Chapter 4 is Smut chapter.

Thank you everyone who\'s reviewed so far, you are all lovely : Heather, jessicat1982, giova, oz_angel, MoD, Rilla, Darkfaith, shemhamforash and dradd.


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Chapter 3.

The room finishes it\'s alterations, I run across the newly complete landing and down to the crumpled black form.

\"Professor?\"

There is no response, and if it weren\'t for the shallow movements of his chest it would be easy to mistake him for dead. Blood trickles, a glistening redness from a cut hidden in his hair.

Above us the enraged howl of the werewolf spurs me back into action, the sound of something heavy landing on the level above us reverberates through the stone as Remus jumps down a level, one more and he\'ll reach us.
This is not going to happen! My anger lends me strength and gritting my teeth I haul Snape against the rails, then against me, a reversal of our earlier positions. Merlin! For someone who looks like a Halloween scarecrow he weighs a tonne and has become a tangle of obstructive limbs, even unconscious he\'s a pain in the arse. Turning I prepare to run.

The familiar door to the third floor lies at the end of....the third floor! I can\'t keep the grin off my face and sprint as near full pace as I can for the dubious safety of the door, swearing violently with every pain-filled step and desperately trying not to collapse under the extra weight. I just make it, slamming the portal closed behind me a second before the booming connection of muscle against wood shakes the very door-frame. Another crash and I swear I can hear the heavy timber start to splinter.
Limping at speed but unable to run I just hope I make it to my destina bef before the creature Remus Lupin has become breaks through.

*****

Even after the destruction of the Philosopher\'s stone and subsequent eviction of Fluffy for some reason the third floor was left unoccupied. Harry, Ron and I spent too many nights with the Marauder\'s map and and Invisibility cloak exploring it\'s hidden rooms and empty halls. I stop, panting at the portrait guardian of one of these, the grime obscured figure in the painting stirs.

\"You again?\"

No more than a whisper, like a breeze accompanied by the rustle of leaves.

\"Yes..\"

I shift uncomfortably, darting glances back down the corridor.

\"...Can I enter?\"

A sigh, then a click and the portrait swings aside tearing the cobwebs built up since I was last here, I pull Snape through.
The door closes and locks behind me, candles flaming into life and as gently as possible I lower him to the dusty floor, propping him against the bathtub in a sitting position.

Pushing his hair back I try to see how bad the head-wound is but there is so much blood it\'s impossible.

Wincing I lower myself next to him, relieving the pressure on my throbbing ankle and lean closer.

\"Professor?\"

My voice is so loud in the silent room and it shakes as much as I, in the aftermath of all the adrenaline I feel drained.
Snape still doesn\'t respond, which can\'t be good. I seem to remember reading somewhere that people with head injuries shouldn\'t be left unconscious for any length of time. Shaking him none too gently I raise my voice.

\"Professor Snape?\"

Again nothing.

\"Severus!?\"

The barest flicker of eyelids and in a voice only just weaker than usual.

\"You forget yourself Miss Granger, I do not recall giving you permission to use my first name.\"

Opening glazed eyes he tries finding his feet, going a ghastly shade of grey and returning to his previous position with haste. When I reach over to aid him he snarls.

\"Did I ask for your assistance?\"

I would never have thought I\'d be relieved by Snape acting like a bastard but it gives me something to focus on, something normal in all this horror.

\"How are you feeling?\"

Stupid question Granger.

\"I feel like I\'ve just fallen down a flight of stairs...\"

Scowling he raises his hand to his head then glares at his bloody fingers as though they have personally affronted him.

\"..where are we miss Granger?\"

\"Hermione.\"

\"I beg your pardon?\"

\"I have a name, it\'s Hermione in case you had forgotten, and seeing as I am both a co-worker and more importantly just dragged your sorry carcass halfway across the school I think that we\'re well enough acquainted for you to use it.\"

An exaggeration I know, but the whole Miss Granger thing makes me feel like a student again. That and I\'m curious as to how my name would sound uttered in his silky tones. Whoa! Stop that right now.

He glares at me.

\"Her-mi-o-ne, there, happy now?\"

I wince, he says it like an insult.

\"I think I preferred you unconscious.\"

Did I say that out loud? I wait for the cutting remark, but the sharp exhalation is the nearest I\'ve ever heard him come to a laugh.

\"There\'s a long list of those who\'d agree, join it. You still haven\'t answered my question however.\"

Settling myself against the tub I begin.

\"The portrait is precagecagey but it says that this used to be a prefects bathroom when the floor was occupied. We, that is the three of us found it in our fourth year, I used to come here to get away from everyone and think. There are all sorts of wards around it and it doesn\'t show up on the Marauder\'s Map.\"

At the mention of that item his face becomes even more sour, using the uncomfortable silence I take the opportunity to reacquaint myself with my old bolt-hole.

A thick layer of dust covers everything, I wonder if the house-elves even know if it exists. The floor is white and black marble mosaic, the huge claw-foot bath and conveniences are green-veined black marble. Around the walls dim portraits and drapes hang mouldering with age between shelves stacked with all manner of decanters filled with various coloured liquids.

Snape\'s new attempt at mobility draws my attention.

\"You said you\'d taken care of Remus.\"

He frowns.

\"In his human form...Yes...In case you hadn\'t noticed it isn\'t a full moon...\"

\"So he shouldn\'t have been able to transform.\"

\"Exactly.\"

One of the portraits clears it\'s throat noisily before continuing in the door guardians quiet drawl.

\"Is the large, rather irate werewolf outside with you or shall i ignore it?\"

\"Does he know we\'re in here?\"

\"He\'s tracked you this far but I don\'t believe he\'s worked out I\'m a door yet.\"

\"Please don\'t do anything.\"

\"Very well.\"

The portrait becomes blank and I turn fast enough to catch Snape hiding a look of dazed exhaustion behind his trademark sneer.

\"I\'m going to have to look at that cut Professor.\"

\"It\'s fine.\"

I push him back to the floor with a hand on his shoulder.

\"Acting like a petulant child isn\'t endearing you to me in any way, in fact it\'s starting to piss me off...\"

He must have picked up on the edge in my voice or really isn\'t feg asg as good as he claims because he mutters under his breath but gives in, closing slightly out of focus eyes and leaning his head back on the edge of the bathtub as I try to make some sort of order of his matted hair. He grates from between clenched teeth.

\"Get on with it, I don\'t have all night.\"

\"Relax Professor...\"

I can\'t help myself.

\"...I\'m checking you for concussion, not trying to throttle you.\"

Again the almost laugh, it is fleeting but it was there, I smile whilst he can\'t see me. On the whole this would be so much easier if I had my wand.

\"Do you know where my wand is?\"

\"You didn\'t have it on you when I found you.\"

\"Oh...\"

I must have fallen out of my pocket when I was trying to escape Hooch.
Getting to the wound with all that blood and matted hair in the way would take seconds with the correct cleaning charms, but no wand means no magic and I\'ll have to do it by hand. I just wish the idea didn\'t appeal to me as much as it does.
Of course I\'m not the only magic user in the room.

\"Umm...Professor could you do a cleaning charm, I can\'t see the wound?\"

\"Don\'t bother.\"

He shifts sideways away from me and I grab his wrist to stop him.

\"It has to be done.\"

Black eyes stare fixedly at bloody fingers.

\"If you took any notice in my class then you will know that Quelesinine blocks higher brain functions....\"

I really don\'t like the path my minds skipping down, I finish my thought out-loud.

\"Including the ability to consciously use magic.....Shit!

\"Exactly.\"

\"I didn\'t think you\'d had any of toussousse.\"

\"Barely a mouthful, enough for the irritating side effects but it would seem not enough for the onset of psychosis. Anyway I suppose I should be thankful for your clumsy behaviour.\"

I bristle a bit at that, however thanks from Snape ire ere enough to be accepted even when wrapped in an insult. I watch as Snape manages to get to his feet and using the bath for support make his way over to the sink, running both taps the drying blood on his hands is quickly washed off with practised efficiency. Interestingly he avoids looking at himself in the large dust covered mirror all the time the marble bowl is filling and I move to sit on the rim of the tub behind him.
Once the water level is to his liking he grips the edge tightly and submerges his head in the sparkling liquid, repeatedly dunking until the water is dark and cloudy. Bent over he gingerly wrings the pink tinged excess out and stands.
Still not steady on his feet the too abrupt movement sends him staggering back, my arms close around him before he can fall and for a moment Snape almost seems to lean into my touch sending my heart-rate soaring but it is short lived as he pulls forward to prop himself against the sink again.
A curtain of wet hair obscures my view and he is briefly silent. Drawing a shaky breath he perches next to me.

\"Does that help?\"

Does what help? Oh yes. I\'d almost forgotten. Standing I gently run my fingers through damp tresses searching for the cut and any other swelling or bruising.
Even when I find the wound I keep one of my hands wrapped in the wet silk strands.

The cut is nowhere near as bad as I had feared, the blood oozing sluggishly. That he wasn\'t injured more severely is a miracle. Needlessly I run my frs ars across his scalp as though still checking.

\"Hermione\"

My name falls outhim him on a sigh, sounding beautiful said like that, though I\'m pretty sure he has no idea it slipped out.
I\'m left wondering what excuse I could have for the shut down of my own brain functions as I actually consider doing what both sides of my mind seem to be screaming at me.

Oh get on with it Granger, it\'s not like he\'s going anywhere.

Hesitantly, heart beating too fast I brush my lips across his own. A hiss of in-drawn breath and his eyes open wide before quickly narrowing, I start to pull back, face flushed with desire and embarrassment but the barest flick of his tongue against my lower lip and I stop thinking altogether, my own savagery shocking me.

There is nothing gentle about the kiss, his fingers are twisted almost painfully in my hair and his skin burns. Trying not to overbalance I press myself closer whilst my pulse sparks through my body with every move of lips and tongue. There is the sharp pain of his teeth nipping the soft flesh of my mouth as he tears himself away from me, feeling bereft at the loss I struggle to breathe, noticing with something approaching smugness he\'s having as much difficulty as I.

\"Why?\"

Snape\'s voice is as ragged as his breathing, I shiver at the sound. He sits there hair dishevelled, pale skin flushed, the lower of his slightly parted lips is smeared with myod. od. He is not beautiful, he could never be that, but at the moment I want him like no other. Why? Because I have dreamt of this for so long I\'d thought it impossible. Because right now he isn\'t sneering and but is looking at me as no one else ever has before. And it\'s my birthday for gods sake! Maybe just for once I want something good to happen to me and if that good is a one night stand with my ex potions professor in an abandoned bathroom surrounded by psychotic teachers then so be it!

He is waiting for my reply but how the hell am I supposed to explain all that and not sound nuts? His tongue darts out to clean the blood away and I know I\'m lost, there\'s no way I\'m going to back down on this. All I manage before I kiss him again is

\"Because...\"


Tbc.....