Saving your life

Hermione waited in silence, not even moving until Harry was gone and the door closed, and then she slowly turned back to Severus.

“What did you want to talk about?”

“Where is the diadem?” Severus asked her, in a low voice.

“With the cup; it is safe.”

“Did anyone else see it?”

“Only Kingsley, I believe. He needed it to try to discover what curses you were suffering from.”

“So you just showed it to him?”

“You were lying on the floor dying; what did you expect me to do?” she asked, angrily.

“Raising your voice will solve nothing,” he said calmly, making her even angrier than before.

“You know, one would think you would be the least bit grateful we saved your life.”

“I have saved your life many times, and never asked for any gratitude; I do not see how this is any different, but still, I am grateful for your help. Now can we move on to what matters?”

“I don’t even know why I’m surprised by your attitude anymore,” she muttered, turning around and taking a few steps away from him. “You are a bloody idiot,” she said angrily, and gasped in surprise when she heard snickers outside the closed door. They were listening. She turned around to Severus, noticing he did not look surprised at all; in fact, that slightly amused expression was back on his face.

Without a word, she reached for her wand and waved it in the door’s direction, silencing the room at last.

“You knew they were listening?” she asked, angrily, and he merely smirked. “What are you playing at?”

“This is hardly a game. Now, if you will calm down and sit, we have a few things we need to discuss.”

“Kingsley was right,” she muttered, as she walked to the door. “Whatever you need to say to me, they can be present. In fact, why don’t you leave me alone and discuss it directly with him?” she asked, reaching for the knob only to be stopped by his hand on her wrist.

“Hermione, wait,” he said with a sigh, standing directly behind her.

“What do you want?”

“I have told you that already. We need to speak.”

“Then speak,” she said briskly, turning around to face him and crossing her arms in front of herself, refusing to sit down.

“I obviously cannot go back to see the Dark Lord until I am fully recovered, or else he will know it was me that took the diadem; that might take a few hours.”

“So?”

“So,” he said, starting to look irritated, “this might be a good opportunity to destroy those Horcruxes.”

“I told you already, we don’t have any more basilisk venom.”

“And as I said, there are other ways to do it. I was going to suggest Fiendfyre.”

“But that is highly dangerous; it easily gets out of control.”

“Not if you know what you are doing.”

She looked at him for a moment before speaking again.

“When?”

“Now, of course,” he replied.

“I don’t think that should be done here.”

“Of course not. I know of a place that would be appropriate.”

“Harry and Ron have to come too.”

“That will not be necessary.”

“Dumbledore wanted the three of us to find and destroy the Horcruxes; it is only fair that they be there when it is done.”

“Very well,” he finally agreed. “Go make yourself presentable first; you look a mess.”

“You really are unbelievable,” she huffed, but before she could turn around to leave he stepped closer, almost pinning her to the wall.

“I think you are right; maybe I should properly thank you for your help,” he said, in a low, husky tone, quickly making her legs feel weak. “If it were not for you, the curse would have killed me.”

“You said it before; you have saved my life many times.”

“Still, I wish I could think of a way to show my appreciation,” he said, stepping closer still and making her, in turn, step back, her body now flush against the wall.

“You don’t have to…” she said, her voice almost a whisper as she tried to remain in control. Thinking he might die seemed to have put things in perspective for some reason, and suddenly everything that had happened between them, all the bad things, did not seem as important as it had only hours before.

“But what if I want to?” he asked, tilting his head so that his lips were barely an inch away from hers.

She wanted to say something, come up with a smart retort, make him the one nervous instead of her, but her brain had stopped working. How did he always manage to have such a strong effect on her, to render her speechless by his mere closeness? She did not care.

Her eyes locked with his, and she saw something there she could not understand; something she had seen before, but as usual, it was gone before she could really know what it was.

Not that she had long to consider; before she could say a word his lips were on hers, tentative, as if trying to see how she would react. She kept her arms almost rigid at her sides, and it took all her will power not to wrap them around him and pull him closer, but her lips had a mind of their own and soon she found herself kissing him back.

He had not kissed her like that since the very first time, and so much had happened since then.

After a few moments she felt his hands on her hips as his body leaned against hers, finally making contact. His tongue carefully pushed her lips apart and slipped past them, and she could not hold back the small moan.

He made no comment, not even a smirk, but once he noticed her reaction he deepened the kiss. It was still not heated; it actually reminded her of the times he had kissed her before she had gotten her memories back; as if he simply could not hold back, as if he needed to feel her, to touch her.

Still, the memories of those times made her pull back, breaking the kiss. She remained where she was, their faces a few inches apart as they silently looked at one another, his arms still on her hips, their bodies so close. After a few moments, he took a step back.

“There is not much time; I will have to go back to the Dark Lord as soon as my arm goes back to normal. If you want your friends to come with us, then make sure they do not tell anyone else what we are going to do.”

“Of course,” she said, taking a deep breath, trying to calm her heart down.

“Be careful not to touch the diadem. As insufferable as you might sometimes be, I would not want any accident to occur; the curse would kill you and there would be no way to stop it,” he said, and she could not detect any hint of irony in his words.

“I will be careful,” she said, trying to hide the small smile that wanted to reach her lips. After almost dying, he was worried about her?

“Very well then,” he said, taking a few more steps away from her, “I will wait here; tell Potter and Weasley to get ready. Be careful when you open the door: they are probably still leaning against it, trying to listen and wondering if perhaps the rumours are true and I am sucking your blood and turning you into a creature of the night” he said with a smirk.

Instead of replying, she turned around and opened the door. Sure enough, she found herself face to face with Harry and Ron, both looking at her with a mixture of surprise and curiosity on their faces.

“So now you take to listen behind close doors?” she asked them, irritated.

“Hermione, are you all right?” Harry asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

“Of course I am. You two go get dressed, we are leaving,” she said, walking past them. “Thank you for your help, Kingsley,” she said, standing in front of the Auror, who had been waiting in the hallway a few feet away.

“Is there anything else I can help you with?” he asked.

“No, you have already done more than enough.”

“You are still bleeding,” he said, reaching for his wand and waving it over her forehead, healing the cut.

“Thank you,” she repeated with a smile.

“I believe we need to talk.”

“We will, just not right now. I have a few things I need to do that cannot wait.”

“I will come back later today, then,” he said, and she nodded, making her way to the stairs, where Harry and Ron were waiting for her.

“Where are you going?” Ron asked.

“Not me; us. We have things to do,” she said, walking up the stairs towards her room.

“What things?”

“The Horcruxes,” she whispered, when she was sure no one would hear.

“You know where they are?” Harry asked, confused.

“Yes, but I cannot explain right now; just get dressed and wait for me downstairs, will you?”

“But, Hermione, what…”

“Stop asking questions,” she hissed. “We don’t have much time.”

In a matter of minutes she was back downstairs, clean and dressed, with the cup and the diadem safely hidden in her robes, a simple spell preventing the diadem from accidentally touching her skin. Severus was standing by the door waiting for her, his robes fixed and no traces of blood left on his skin. Harry and Ron were waiting for her there as well, standing by Severus and looking at him with something akin to hatred, and he was simply ignoring them, a look of disdain on his face.

“Miss Granger, are you ready?” he asked her, as soon as she was close enough to hear.

“Yes.”

“You have both things?”

“Of course.”

“What is he talki…”

“Not now,” she told Ron curtly. “Where are we going?” she asked next, turning to Severus.

“I have created a Portkey,” he said, lifting his hand so that she could see the small crystal vase he was holding. “It will take us there.”

With a nod, she touched her finger to the vase and turned to Harry and Ron, waiting for them to do the same.

“I am not sure that is such a good idea,” Harry said, hesitantly, looking from her to Severus.

“Just trust me, will you? I will explain as soon as we arrive.”

She watched Harry turn to Ron with a questioning frown, but Ron merely shrugged and touched the vase, and after a few moments Harry did the same. Another second and Severus activated the Portkey, taking them all away.

She opened her eyes as soon as her feet touched the ground, and looked around, trying to see where he had taken them. They were standing in the middle of a large room, with no windows and only one door. She could not remember ever being there before.

“What is this place?” Ron asked, as he got to his feet. Now matter how many times he used Portkeys or how much he tried to concentrate, he always ended up falling to the floor.

“Somewhere where we will not be disturbed,” Severus replied curtly.

“Care to explain, Hermione?”

Instead of speaking, she merely reached inside her pocket and pulled out the golden cup, holding it in front of her so the boys could see it.

“What is that?” Ron asked, stepping closer to her to get a better look.

“It is Hufflepuff’s cup,” Harry said in a low voice, his eyes fixed on the small golden cup. “How did you get it? I told you that the place where it was kept was heavily protected, and the wards would have killed anyone without the Dark Mark.”

“How do you know that?” Severus asked him, sounding slightly surprised.

“He saw it when he took the potion,” Hermione answered, conjuring a small table in front of them and carefully placing the cup on it.

“He knows about the potion?” Harry asked, turning to her, and she could hear the anger in his voice.

“Honestly, Harry, how do you think I got it?”

“What? You said you had made it,” he said, confused.

“Well, not exactly,” she replied, ignoring Severus’ low snort. “I believe I said I had found it, not that I had brewed it. It was Professor Snape that created it.”

“Him? Then why didn’t you…”

“Tell you before?” she interrupted. “You wouldn’t have taken it if you had known where it had come from,” she told him, and before he could speak again she continued. “Draco is the one that gave me the cup.”

“Malfoy?” Ron asked, surprised. “What does the ferret have to do with any of this?”

“You knew he had been working with me already. When Harry told me only someone with the Mark could get to the cup, I asked him to do it.”

“You had no right,” Harry said, angrily. “We were supposed to keep the information on the Horcruxes between us; how could you just tell him? It was not your decision to make.”

“I’m sorry, Harry, but I knew I could trust him. I saw the opportunity and took it. I wanted to prove to you that Draco could be trusted, that he really wants to help us. Besides, he doesn’t know what this is, only that we needed it.”

“You say he can be trusted? Then why does he say the ferret’s still on Voldemort’s side?” Harry asked, turning to Severus.

“Because,” she said, before Severus could answer himself, “Professor Snape didn’t know all the facts, but now he knows Draco really wants to help our side, right Professor?”

He turned to him as she spoke, silently begging him to agree with her, if only to stop the questioning, at least for the time being.

“Right,” he replied curtly after a few moments.

“I still don’t think he wants to help; he probably has some other reason for it all.”

“He saved all our lives, remember? He warned us about the attack against us when we went searching for the Horcruxes just in time. They would have killed us if not for him.”

“Miss Granger, if we could please get this over with; I thought I had made it clear earlier, we do not have much time,” Severus thankfully interrupted.

“Why is he here?” Ron asked then.

“He is going to help us destroy the Horcruxes.”

“You said Horcruxes; you mean you have more than one?” Harry asked.

“Yes,” she replied, flicking her wand at her side, so that the diadem slowly floated out of her pocket and towards the table. “That was Rowena Ravenclaw’s diadem.”

“So Dumbledore had been right; this diadem is one of the Horcruxes,” Harry said, walking closer to the table to take a better look, his hand slowly reaching to touch the beautiful object.

“Don’t touch it!” Hermione said just in time, slapping his hand away. “It is cursed.”

“Cursed?” Harry asked, taking a step back, not wanting to get near the object anymore. “How do you know?”

“Because I saw what it does, and so did you. It almost killed Professor Snape,” she said, turning to Severus for a moment. “He is the one that found it for us, and he is here because he is going to help us destroy both Horcruxes.”

“But how? Does he have basilisk venom? Because you already know we don’t have any left,” Ron said, looking at Severus as if he were waiting for him to pull a basilisk fang from his pocket, or maybe the basilisk itself. She heard Severus sigh irritably at the question, and before he could say anything she explained them the plan.

“We won’t use the venom; we will use Fiendfyre to destroy them.”

“But you said we couldn’t,” Ron said. “When I suggested we use it you told me it was too dangerous.”

“It is only dangerous in inept hands.”

“Well, we are more than able to handle ourselves, so if that is the only reason why you are here…”

“Ron, stop,” she interrupted, not wanting to hear any more bickering from any of them. “Can’t you just behave yourself for a few minutes? He risked his life to get the diadem, almost got killed by the curse, and will now have to face Voldemort and tell him it is missing; I think he needs a little gratitude, at least,” she said angrily, facing Ron all the time, not wanting to meet Severus’ gaze as she spoke.

“I hardly believe I need defenders, Miss Granger,” he said, curtly. “This is more important to the war than any of you can understand, and the continuance of that war affects me, so it involves me as much as it does any of you, if not more. I have only agreed to let you come here because of Miss Granger’s insistence, and already regret that decision. Now, as I said before, I do not have much time, especially not to waste with thick children that cannot see past themselves. You have two choices now; you can both stay here and stand aside as I destroy these objects, or you can leave, and I honestly hope it is the second choice that you take.”

She watched Ron and Harry look at one another for a moment, and just as they were about to speak she answered Severus’ question herself.

“They will stay, Professor,” she said sternly, throwing both Harry and Ron a warning look, daring them to disagree.

“We will,” Harry said, after a moment, and Ron nodded, still looking put out by Severus’ presence.

“Very well,” Severus said, walking closer to the small table where she had left the Horcruxes. “Now if you will step aside, I shall begin.”

She watched Harry and Ron hesitate for a moment, and then take a few steps back. Instead of moving with them, she walked closer to Severus.

“Hermione, what are you doing there?”

“Yes, what are you doing here, Hermione?” Severus asked her in a low voice.

“I’ll stay here, I’m going to help him,” she said back to Harry, before turning to Severus. “I want to know how the curse works, how you manage to control the Fiendfyre.”

“Of course you do,” he replied, with a hint of a smile touching the side of his lips. “Step back,” he said, his hand on her arm pushing her back until they were both a few feet from the table.

“Hermione, just come here, it could be dangerous,” she heard Ron say, but she ignored him.

“You know how to cast the curse?” Severus asked in the same low voice, so that only she could hear, and she nodded. “Have you ever tried it before?”

“No.”

“Very well,” he muttered, waving his wand so that the room was almost completely dark.

She felt him step behind her, his hand slowly trailing down her arm, his fingers wrapping around hers and lifting her hand so that her wand was pointing at the Horcruxes.

“What are you doing?” she asked with her voice soft and her eyes half lidded, enjoying the feeling of his body so close to hers.

“I thought you wanted to learn,” he said softly by her ear. “You already know the theory, you just need the practice.”

“But Harry and Ron…” she said, unconsciously leaning back against him.

“The room is too dark for them to see,” he replied, his lips ghosting over her ear as he spoke. “Now concentrate on the curse, take a moment to go over the steps in your mind,” he whispered, his lips slowly moving to her neck.

“You are not making this easy,” she breathed, trying to remember the way in which she was supposed to flick and wave her wand, according to the books she had found when researching.

“What would be the fun in that?” he asked, his free hand slowly trailing up her thigh.

“Severus,” she hissed, half-heartedly.

“Just focus on the curse,” he said, his hand moving up her hips and slowly slipping under her shirt.

“Hermione, what’s going on?” asked Ron.

She heard Severus curse under his breath and step back, so that he was only touching her wand hand. Barely a second later she heard Harry whisper “Lumos.”

“What’s going on?” he asked, taking a step closer to them, and she turned her head to him, not pulling away from Severus’ touch because she knew that would make her look guilty of whatever Harry was suspecting.

“I lowered the light for a reason, Potter,” Severus hissed angrily.

“What are you doing, Hermione?” he asked, ignoring Severus.

“He will show me how to cast the curse, how to control the Fiendfyre.”

“But you already know that,” said Ron, stepping closer as well. “The three of us learnt how to cast that months ago.”

“Yes, but I never actually cast it before.”

“Will the two of you step back and stay put, or will I have to chain you to the wall and gag you?” Severus asked irritably. They both looked at him hatefully for a moment, but then their eyes darted to the Horcruxes on the table, and they seemed to decide they wanted to stay.

“Nox,” muttered Harry, but even in the darkness she could tell they hadn’t stepped back again, still standing just a few feet from her and Severus.

“Focus on the curse,” Severus repeated, although this time his voice was louder and colder, for their audience’s benefit. “Once you cast the curse, you need to keep your wand aimed at the base of the fire; and keep your arm steady, otherwise it will get out of control. If it grows too strong you can break the curse, I assume you know how to do that.”

“Of course,” she replied.

“Simply make sure you don’t move your arm, and the concentration is very important as well. Do you think you can do it?”

“Yes.”

“Very well,” he said, pressing her hand slightly before letting go. “Do it.”

She took a moment to focus, her mind clearer now that he wasn’t touching her, and then she slowly moved her wand, going through all the complicated flicks the curse required. Just as she was finishing she felt her wand vibrate slightly, and felt the power of the curse around her hand; after a second, a small fire erupted at one of the edges of the table.

“Concentrate on the flame,” Severus said from behind her. “Slowly move your wand towards the cup.”

Still focusing on the curse, she did as he instructed, narrowing her eyes as she tried to keep her hand steady and will the flames to the side at the same time.

“Wow, that’s amazing,” she heard Ron mutter when the flames reached the Horcrux, melting it away very slowly. “Look, Harry, it’s working. Can I try it too, Hermione?” he asked her eagerly.

“Do not distract her,” she heard Severus say sternly, and Ron thankfully fell silent.

“Don’t let it grow too much,” Severus whispered, stepping closer to her, his hand on hers once more as he helped keep her arm firm. “Just focus on the centre of the fire, forget about the flames,” he said, taking her hand more firmly, his body so close it was distracting her. “Focus, Miss Granger,” he whispered softly, moving her hand a few inches to the left.

Mesmerised by the flames, she watched as the fire finally melted what was left of the golden cup, a small smile creeping to her lips as she realized she was controlling the curse by herself.

“Now move it to the diadem,” Severus instructed, after a moment. “Carefully.”

She did as told, feeling his tight grip guiding her as she moved the flames towards the last Horcrux. She watched the fire finally reach the diadem, but for some reason it didn’t touch it; the flames seemed to stop less than an inch away, as if the Horcrux were protected by an invisible bubble of some sort.

“What’s going on?” she asked Severus.

“I think there is some kind of protection around it. It might take longer, but this curse will break through it,” he said. “Make the fire stronger, but only slightly.”

Nodding her head, she twisted her wand again, his hand controlling the movement as she strengthened the curse.

“That’s it, now let it work,” he muttered, and after a few moments she saw the flames start to wear down the protection, slowly closing in on the diadem.

“I think it needs more strength,” Ron said from beside her, and from the corner of her eye she saw him raise his wand and aim it at the fire she had created, ready to cast the curse as well.

“Ron, no,” she screamed, her free hand shooting to the side to stop it, just like Severus’, but that moments distraction proved to be enough to get the fire out of control.

A flash of red brought her attention back to the diadem, now being quickly devoured by the fire as it grew.

“Focus on it, make it lower again,” Severus said, but the fire was growing too fast, the heat soon becoming overwhelming.

“Watch out,” Harry yelled from behind her, just as one of the legs from the table melted away, making what was left of it fall.

She felt Severus’ hand wrap around her waist as he hastily pulled her back, just as the fire touched the floor, inches away from where they had been standing. He moved back so fast he stumbled and fell, with Hermione falling on top of him.

“Hermione!” she heard one of the boys yell from behind her, but she was not sure which one.

The fire kept growing, now almost reaching the ceiling, and she felt Severus’ hand on hers again, as he yanked her back, away from the flames.

“You have to stop it,” he said, pulling her with him until they reached the wall. “You cast it, and you have to stop it; otherwise it will destroy the entire room before vanishing.”

“I can’t,” she muttered, feeling her arm limp at her side as she watched the flames move closer to her.

Suddenly a sound was heard, a deafening explosion, and what had moments ago been simple, if incredibly large, flames now turned to what looked like a dragon made of fire.

“If you don’t stop it now it will be too late,” he said, his hand reaching for hers, making her lift her wand at the dragon, but just as she aimed it at it, the fire beast opened its mouth, breathing two balls of fire their way.

She watched, wide eyed, as the red flames moved towards them, too surprised to react, but just before they reached them she felt Severus’ hands on her shoulder, pushing her hard to one side while he jumped to the other, both barely avoiding the fire.

“Run!” she heard him yell, just as the dragon stepped closer, its head turning to him for a second before moving on to her.

She watched the fire creature breath another flame and she quickly crawled out of the way. She hastily got to her feet, running now as she felt the dragon move after her, the room soon becoming unbearably hot.

“Hermione, where are you?” she heard Ron call from the other side of the room, but she couldn’t see him, and certainly could not stop to reply.

She turned around as she ran, needing to see if the dragon was still after her, how close it was, but just as she turned to it she tripped with her own feet and fell hard, scrambling a few yards before she hit the wall, having nowhere else to run to.

“Hermione, you have to lift the curse,” Severus yelled from somewhere to her left, but the dragon was so close now it was blinding her, and she couldn’t see where he was. “Hermione, can you hear me?”

“Yes,” she managed to yell back, as she lifted her trembling arm towards the dragon.

She saw a flash of blue light to her left, as what looked like water hit the dragon on its side, and the creature tilted its head to send yet another ball of fire at Severus.

“Focus on the curse, aim your wand at the base of the fire and stop it,” he yelled, his voice strained as he kept throwing spells and curses at the creature, trying to distract it enough for her to stop it.

Taking a deep breath she wrapped her fingers around her wand more firmly, lowering it so that it was aiming around the beast’s belly. Then she began muttering the words that would lift the curse as she slowly waved and flicked her wand in the way she had seen in the book. She felt a faint tinkle in her hand, but it was not enough; she needed to focus.

Slowly getting up, she took the wand in both her hands, starting all over, hoping this time she would gather more power. It was still not working, she was not strong enough, and she was beginning to feel desperate, but then she saw the dragon breath another ball of fire against Severus, heard him scream in pain, and suddenly the wand vibrated in her hands, a flash of blue light erupting from the tip, hitting the dragon, making it lose its shape for a few moments.

She felt her energy drained, and the blue light vanished, the dragon soon regaining its shape and turning to her, its nostrils flaring. She took a step away from it and her back hit the wall; there was nowhere to run. But now she knew she could stop it, now she knew she had enough power; she just needed concentration.

Feeling her legs weak, she lowered herself back to the floor, her wand still firmly held in both hands as she once more began muttering the words and performing the wand movements, a faint but steady ray of blue light hitting the dragon after a few moments.

Encouraged by the ray of light, by the beast’s blurring edges, she started chanting louder, focusing more, if possible, on the task. She felt the wand begin to vibrate in her hands as the blue light grew brighter, and that gave the strength she needed to continue.

Her entire arms were shaking after a moment, the effect getting worse as the dragon moved closer to her. She could see its nostrils flare again, and knew she would have to stop it before it managed to breathe fire against her again, for there was nowhere left to run.

She closed her eyes, pushing everything other than the words she had to speak away from her mind, and soon her entire body began to shake badly. Her hands hurt so much she wanted to scream, but she could not mutter any word other than those needed to stop the curse. As the tears rolled down her cheeks she opened her eyes again, satisfaction barely registering in her brain as she saw the dragon had turned back into shapeless flames.

She had made it, it was almost over. A small smile twitched her lips before she realized the flames were still moving towards her. Keeping her wand in one hand she used the other for balance, crawling away from the flames so she would have enough time to completely extinguish them, but her body was still shaking hard and she could not move as fast as the fire did.

With all the strength she had left she concentrated on lifting the curse, the blue light growing wider as the fire grew smaller, but it was so close now the very air around her seemed to be burning her skin.

She heard a loud snapping sound and screamed in pain as she felt the bone in her arm break, but she used her other arm to steady the wand, knowing it was almost over. Just a few more seconds and it would end, at last.

The blue light was steady, and the fire was now barely two feet high. Remembering Severus’ words she aimed her wand at its base, wincing in pain as she moved her broken arm, but still keeping it steady enough.

One foot now, its colour quickly turning yellowish, the air around her slowly cooling. She kept her wand still, kept repeating the words as it became smaller and smaller, and with tears still streaming down her cheeks, she softly sighed in relief.

It happened in a fraction of a second; the flame was just about to disappear when her arm wavered, just an inch, but enough to ruin all the hard work. The explosion was blinding, although she heard no sound come from it. All she knew was that one moment the fire was almost gone, and the next yellow flames were being shot into the air in her direction.

With a pained yelled she felt her jeans catch fire, and then her arms burn, as she desperately tried to put that fire out. She heard yells around her, but they seem so far away. It was Severus’ voice, asking her to be still as he muttered something, extinguishing the fire. She was so exhausted, her power so drained, that she could do nothing other than fall back, her back hitting the floor hard, making her wince in pain again.

“Hermione,” she heard Severus say as he kneeled next to her. “Are you all right?” he asked, but she didn’t have enough strength left to respond.

She felt his hands on her legs and screamed in pain, but could not move away.

“Stay still,” she heard him mutter, and saw him reach for his wand.

“Hermione?” she heard the boys ask.

“Stand back,” Severus yelled, his voice so menacing neither of them approached her, or spoke again.

“Hermione, can you hear me?” he asked softly, kneeling by her head, one of his hands on her cheek, making her turn to him. She could not respond, but nodded instead. “This will hurt, but it will be only a few seconds. I need you to stay still, or it will take longer. Do you understand?” he asked, in the same soft yet concerned tone, and she nodded again.

She heard the rustling of clothes as he stood up, and then kneeled again by her legs, and then cold air hitting her skin from the knees down, as part of her jeans vanished.

She groaned in pain as she felt a tingle of magic against her burned skin, making her legs shake, and then something cold, like a balm of some sort, covering the wounds; although the contrast against her hot flesh made her shiver, she noticed the worse of the pain was gone after a few moments.

“Is that better?” he asked softly, kneeling by her head again, his hand carefully cupping her face, and she managed a small smile in response. “It will need a few more minutes, but it should take away the pain fast, and I doubt it will leave any scar. Where else are you hurt?”

“Arms,” she groaned.

“Let me see,” he said, slipping his hands behind her shoulders and carefully sitting her up, pulling her to him so that she could rest against his shoulder as he carefully lifted her arms. “This one is broken,” he said, stilling his movements when she winced in pain. “I’m sorry,” he whispered by her ear, “but I have to move them.”

“All right,” she whispered, gritting her teeth as he slowly moved both her arms, resting them on her lap.

She winced again when the tip of his wand touched her arm, but said nothing as she felt the bone inside move, snapping back to its original position.

“These burns are superficial,” he muttered, as he moved his wand over her arms, and with another tinkle she felt them quickly disappear. “Better?” he asked, and she nodded, noticing most of the pain was gone. “You’ve hurt your forehead again,” he whispered, leaning closer, and she could see a small smile twitching his lips.

She closed her eyes as she felt his fingers on her face, one hand slowly caressing her check as the other checked what she assumed was the injure on her forehead.

“What do you think you are you doing?” Harry asked angrily, and she forced her eyes opened again.

“Checking her wounds, Potter, that should be obvious,” Severus said, calmly.

“Yeah, well, I think you’re finished now,” Ron replied, in the same tone.

“I hope you do realize, Mr Weasley, that you are the one to blame for what happened here. Your foolishness and disregard for commands could have gotten Miss Granger killed; it almost did, in fact, so why don’t you let me finish what I am doing and remain quiet, if only for a moment, or you might find yourself accidentally muted, in the best of cases,” he replied, turning back to her as if they had not been interrupted, although she noticed he was keeping his distance now, his soft touch gone.

She saw him reach for his wand again and wave it over her forehead, healing her before moving it back to her legs, removing the balm.

She slowly sat up straight, bending her legs so that she could take a closer look. The skin looked slightly reddish, but there was not a single mark left from the burns.

“The colour should go back to normal in a few minutes. You were lucky to be attended so fast; it will not scar, as I suspected.”

“Thank you,” she muttered, stretching her legs, noting all the pain was gone.

“Not many would have been able to control a Fiendfyre curse once it reached such an advanced stage. You did well.”

“Thanks,” she repeated, with a smile.

“Are you ready to go home, then?” Harry asked, throwing her a meaningful look, and her eyes instantly darted to Severus, silently begging him to give her an excuse not to, to give her some time before she was forced to explain both his and her behaviour to her friends.

“She needs to take some potions before she can go back.”

“Can’t you just take them to headquarters?”

“I am not your personal healer, Potter, and nor hers. If she wants to recover she will need the potions, and if she wants the potions she will have to go to my laboratory to get them,” he replied coldly.

“All right, take us there then, so we can get this over with.”

“You will certainly not set foot in my laboratory; either of you. I am forced to take Miss Granger there because she needs the potions, but you are not allowed anywhere near my property.”

“But…”

“This is not an argument, Mr Weasley. If you do not want your little friend here to recover, then please say so. I have more important things to do than deliver potions that took weeks to brew to ungrateful children.”

He gave them a moment to respond, but they remained silent.

“Here,” he said curtly, conjuring a crystal vase like the one they had used before and turning it into a Portkey. “You can wait for her back with the Order; she will be sent back as soon as she has recovered enough.”

“Hermione, do you…”

“I’ll be all right,” she interrupted Ron, keeping her voice low, trying to sound weak and in pain. “I will go back as soon as possible.”

“If anything happens to her…”

“Save yourself the trouble, Potter. If I had wanted to harm her, I would have done so long ago; now will you take the Portkey or will I have to personally take you back to headquarters?”

Both Ron and Harry looked hatefully at Severus for a moment, before turning to the vase.

“Be careful, Hermione,” Ron muttered, just before they both touched the Portkey, finally being transported away, leaving her and Severus alone.