Deliver Me

Chapter V – Timeless

When Hermione awoke the next morning, she found Severus sitting in a chair beside the bed, reading a book waiting for her to wake up.

“Hermione,” he said, noticing she was gazing at him intently, “as soon as you are showered and dressed, I will take you back to you common room and you can start your classes tomorrow.”

Hermione smiled but was falling apart inside. He left her. Severus left her. But that night, those kisses, where did he learn to kiss like that? Deciding to ignore the situation as he did, she kept her mouth shut, and guessed he was probably very happy she remained silent.

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She joined Harry and Ron at lunch that day and saw Professor Snape at the teacher’s table. His look was cold when he glanced at her. But it was only a glance, nothing more.

“Feeling better?” Ron asked stuffing the last of his fourth taco in his mouth.

“Much.”

“We heard about Lucy. I’m glad she’s better,” Harry said between chews on his quesadilla.

“How did you find out?”

“Mum owled Harry and I,” he started, “and McGonagall told us everything,” Ron gulped down the last of his lemonade and the glass instantly refilled itself.

“You better eat. Madame Pomfrey told us that we are to make sure that you do. Ron pass her the taco shells,” Harry said.

“Yea, we also tried to visit you in the hospital wing, but Madame Pomfrey insisted on no visitors and no communication whatsoever,” Ron mumbled between his fifth taco.

“If you keep eating like that, you’ll gain fifty pounds,” she smirked at Ron. “Don’t you ever stop eating?”

“And if you don’t eat, then you’ll become air and we won’t be able to find you,” he laughed.

After lunch, Hermione went back to the common room and went searching for her Muggle cellular phone. She needed to talk to her mum. Hermione kept the phone up in her room because of what others might say. Besides, nothing major ever happened for her family to need to find her on an immediate basis.

“Hello,” a woman’s voice answered the phone.

“Mum!”

“Darling! How are you? Everything alright?”

“Yes mum, fine.”

“Did you get my last owl? He wasn’t looking so well, so I thought he might have dropped it off somewhere else.”

“No, I got it. I’m glad she’s better.”

“Yes, yes it was all do to that Professor…oh dear, what was his name…”

“Snape.”

“Snap-”

“Snape.”

“Snoot-”

“Snape.”

“Professor Snapper?”

“Professor Snape mum, Professor Snape.”

“Ah yes! Professor Snape!”

“Yes mum,” Hermione said.

“Him, and that wonderful headmaster of yours came visiting with some little bottle of green stuff. And we took them to Lucy, she force drank it, and within minutes she started coming back to us!”

“I can imagine.”

“Darling, he’s really a fantastically brilliant man, that professor of yours. What did you say his name was again? Professor Snappy?”

“Snape.”

“Yes, well, Professor Snape - walks about ghastly staring at everyone like they’re out to get him, but he’s brilliant, give him our thanks again.”

“I see.” Hermione’s conversation with her mother continued over the next hour before they hung up and her mother promised to call her again, if anything drastic happened. Just in case from then on, Hermione walked around with her cell phone, hidden in the pockets of her robe, on vibrate.

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Walking down to the dungeons Hermione wondered how she was going to face him. What was she going to say to him? Act like nothing happened?

Professor Snape was not in his classroom, so Hermione knocked on his office door, found it open and went inside to find no Professor Snape, but rather, new books and the blanket on the sofa.

So that’s the way he wants to play it, she thought to herself, well, I can play it that way too.

She read the first three of the four books he left her, didn’t bother to stay extra long, and went to dinner, just like she was supposed to. This routine continued over the course of the next three days, until once again, Potions in the morning had come again.

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He was at his desk at usual, glaring at them, as they entered, Gryffindors and Slytherins today, not fun. An as usual again, Neville, who was sitting next to Hermione, was the object of his bullying.

“Mister Longbottom, I hope that today we can conduct our class without any exploding jellybeans.”

The Slytherins laughed, the Gryffindors were angry and Neville turned pink in the ears.

Towards the end of their class period, Professor Snape was observing the Slytherin side of the room, when Hermione felt something vibrate aside her. Her phone! She had completely forgotten about it. Looking around to make sure that Snape wasn’t looking, she took it out and answered it,

“Hello?” she whispered.

Her mother was crying at the other end.

“Mum?” her voice choked.

“Hermione, I’m sorry, daring I’m sorry, Lucy…” more muffled words and crying.

“Mum, I can’t hear you. Mum, I’m in the middle of class I can’t-”

“Yes, Miss Granger, you most certainly cannot,” the dark voice of Professor Snape walked over to her.

She looked up. He was glaring at his, intimidating poor Neville who was sitting next to her.

“Hermione…she’s…” her mother started.

“Miss Granger!”

Hermione went numb, between her mother crying about something on the phone, the entire class looking at her and Professor Snape cutting through her with his eyes, she didn’t know what to do.

“Hermione? Hello?” her mother’s voice, she was still on the phone.

Hermione got up, “I’m sorry.” She held the phone on her ear and began to walk out; the entire classroom was stunned.

“Come back here!”

She didn’t listen, but started to run with the phone to her ear.

The entire class was in shock, complete and utter shock. Harry was the first to get up and run after her, this was very un-Hermione behavior.

“One more step Mister Potter and that will be fifty points from Gryffindor.”

“But professor, something’s wrong with her she’s-”

“Care to make it one hundred?”

Harry sat down. The last ten minutes of class were very severe, no one said anything, and once class was over everyone hurried out of the room.

Harry and Ron were picking up Hermione’s belongings and were going to take them back to their tower when, “Leave them,” Professor Snape growled.

“Why, she’s going to need her things-”

“If she wants them, she’ll have to come back to get them, Mister Potter.”

“You can’t do that!” Ron screeched.

“I can do whatever I bloody well please! Goodbye, Mister Weasley.”

Angrily, Harry and Ron walked out.

No less than ten minutes after everyone left Professor Snape walked into in office.

And no less than a minute after he was in his office a very emotional Hermione Granger was wrestling him to the floor.

“You killed her!” she lunged at him.

He grabbed her wrists trying to hold her still, but she kept fighting him by trashing her body in all directions, trying to scratch his eyes out if she could.

“Miss Granger, what in the name of-”

“You killed her! You beast! You animal!” She got her hand low enough to his neck to leave her claw marks, one reason she was glad she didn’t have time to file her nails.

“Stop it-”

“I’ll kill you! You promised! And she’s dead! You killed her!”

He got all the strength in his body and finally turned her onto her back pinning her to the cold stone floor.

“Ahh,” she moaned as her back hit the cold stone very hard. He was stronger than she imagine, and the thurst of her body to the floor, knocked the wind out of her. Hermione tried to use her legs and push him off, but with his own legs he clamped hers shut.

Her chest was heaving and she kept trying to twist from underneath him.

“Miss Granger!” he yelled at her, trying to control her.

She closed her eyes, and scream, “You killed her! You bastard! She’s dead,” with that she lay there, giving up the fight and crying.

“Miss Granger, I assure you I have not killed anyone, stop this nonsense immediately.”

“Nonsense. That’s all she was, just nonsense to you!” her sobs became heavier.

“Yes, it is nonsense to me, unless you tell me what the name of Merlin you are talking about you stupid girl.”

“You’re a pig! Get off of me!” she groaned between breaths.

“Not until you can control yourself.”

“She’s dead…she’s dead…” Hermione laid there, her voice staggering, choking on tears.

“Hermione, who is dead?” he asked her softer, but still coldly, trying to get to the bottom of the situation.

She looked up into his eyes, with contempt and grief, before saying, “Lucy…she’s dead… and I hope you burn in hell.”

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Severus Snape did not know what to say.

The illness Miss Lucy Granger had was a very deadly one, yes, but not completely curable, there was always a small percentage that not everyone would recover. Potatusnidium was the name of it, deadly, usually those who didn’t survive got well and then fell into sudden rapid relapse, but those who did recover…well…Miss Lucy Granger, was not one of them.

Dark wizards inflicted it usually to those close to their enemies, almost like a death kiss.

Hermione lay under him softly sobbing to herself. She stopped struggling and just lay there crying with her face turned away from him.

“Hermione I didn’t know-”

“Of course you didn’t.”

“I’m sorry,” his voice softened and he found some emotion.

“You should be, you’re the reason she’d dead,” she spat back, avoiding his gaze with her head still turned away from him.

“You knew there was a chance of her not surviving-”

“-And you promised me she would.”

“I never you promised anything,” he was growing angry.

“You told me she was going to be fine. That first night, in your bed.”

“But I never promised anything.”
His last few words echoed in her brain, and she remained silent mulling over everything. Her back was being to hurt, and she was sure she might have fractured her skull because she had a splitting pain in the back of her head, from being thrown on the ground when he stopped her attacking him.

“Get off me,” Hermione whispered.

“Will you promise not to attack me?”

“No.”

“Then I will not move.”

“And what if someone walks in and finds you on top one of your students, imagine the scandal it would cause,” she was baiting him, and he knew it.

“That never bothered you before when you were throwing yourself on me and sliding your tongue in my mouth.”

Whatever rage, anger and sadness she had somehow calmed, evoked itself again and she started struggling against him in hopes of getting one of her body parts free, and arm or a leg, didn’t matter.

“You pig!”

He laughed.

“I didn’t slide my tongue down your throat-”

“Correction in my mouth.”

“I don’t give a damn! You’re just awful, get away from me!”

“If I’m not mistaken you’re exact words, were ‘Can you sleep with me’ feel free to correct me, Miss Granger.”

“I was not myself,” she muttered angrily. “And I think you just injured me, so if you would get off of me I can visit Madame Pomfrey.”

“You caused it upon yourself,” he moved his face closer to hers and she tried to bite him.

He laughed again, “Feisty aren’t we.”

“If I miss lunch, Madame Pomfrey will have your head.”

“Your nurse does not intimidate me Miss Granger.”

She closed her eyes, imagining her pain away. She didn’t want to see him glaring at her, mocking her as he hovered over her, as his body molded against hers very inappropriately.

Hermione tried to control her anger, and by the time she did, she started crying again, silent soft whimpers to herself.

Severus rolled his eyes and got off her, leaving her on the floor, he smoothened his robes and just stared at her. He offered her his hand and she refused it, attempting to get up herself.

She staggered and rushed out of the dungeons, neglecting to pick up her things.

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Hermione ran into the common room to find Ron and Harry waiting for her.

“We heard, just got an owl from my mum,” Ron told her, “I’m sorry Hermione I’m really sorry.” She ran into his arms and cried. Harry stroked her hair, said he would go get them lunch; they would stay with her and make arrangements to attend the funeral.

Professor Lupin and McGonagall excused Harry and Ron from their assignments that day and had the house elves send dinner to the three of them in the common room.

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Ron lay awake in his bed that night, his heart aching for her. He loved her…as a sister…and whatever was bothering her, besides Lucy, she wasn’t telling him, but he could see it was beginning to take its toll on her. He glanced over at Harry who was awake too.

“Harry, I’m worried.”

“I know me too.”

“She’s still not acting normal, even for her. What do you think it is?” Ron asked.

“I don’t know. Did you see the state of her when she rushed in through the portrait hole?” Harry commented. “She looked like she was trampled by a Hippogriff.”

“Yea, no kidding, she kept wincing when I was rubbing her back,” Ron said. “I wish we could help her.”

“But she’s not letting us,” Harry said. “I’m tired. Oliver woke me at five this morning to train for the international league he’s prepping me for.”

“You haven’t told him you’re not sure if you’re interested have you?”

“No, but I think I might do it, and Defense Against the Dark Arts for the Ministry on the side.”

“I suppose.”

“Are you going to take the job, when we graduate, Ron?”

“With you in the Ministry? Of course, they expected us to work together.”

“I know. Anyway, I’m going to bed, I need all the sleep I can get, I have this bad feeling that Oliver is going to show up again tomorrow morning before Care of Magical Creatures,” he groaned and Ron laughed.

Not soon after, poor Harry was sound asleep and snoring. Ron was drifting off too, when he felt his bed covers move and a warm body next to him.

“Hermie?” he whispered.

“I can’t sleep,” she whispered snuggling up to him closing her eyes.

“Feeling better?” he had his hand around her waist and his chin on her head with his eyes closed.

“No.”

“I know,” and they slept, he made her forget her worries and she knew she was safe. With Harry snoring soundly on the other bed, Seamus and Neville in the room next door and her in bed with Ron, she knew, these boys, these men, her friends, her adopted family, would always be there for her and protect her from everything.