Flame of Existence

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FLAME OF EXISTENCE
/ by Bella

Chapter Five

Professor Snape was waiting in his classroom that night at eight o’clock for Hermione, who was to serve detention again until midnight. Snape looked at the clock and sneered. She was late– how very Gryffindor of her.

A few minutes after eight, Hermione walked into the classroom completely out of breath. She had run the entire length of the school to get the dungeons on time, and judging her luck, she was late.

“You’re late, Miss Granger,” Snape pointed out as he watched her try to catch her breath. “A little tidbit of advice? Don’t snog Weasley before class, girl. Fifteen points from Gryffindor for your lack of punctuality.”

Snape stood and watched a mix of emotions pass over Hermione’s face. Anger evident, and dearly wishing to retort, Hermione stood her ground and glared at him. Snape smirked to himself. She had balls, he’d give her that much.

Taunting her a little further, he moved from around behind his desk and stood in front of her, towering over her short frame with his much taller one. “You may finish the assignment that you failed to complete in your last detention. Do try not to faint this time, Miss Granger.”

Hermione, fists clenched, turned on the spot and marched over to the ancient bookshelf to finish the task she had been given a couple of nights ago. The ten or so books that she didn’t get to the night before were lying on their covers on the bookshelf at the bottom, ready to be placed correctly on the shelf.

Snape made his way into his private labs and began working on some potions for the infirmary. Poppy had run out of several potions, including the Dreamless Sleep Draught. He gathered the ingredients and materiasl he needed to begin brewing the potion, and set to work on the familiar potion.

Hermione seethed as she began on the books. Snake was an insolent, old man who didn’t know how to keep his smart ass comments to himself - and he knew it.

Old bastard, she thought, placing a volume on the shelf in front of her. However noble his actions for the Order were, they were definitely cancelled out with his lack of... personality. Hermione had found herself twisting in her boots, per se, when Snape had accused her of snogging with Ron. He had no right to even assume such a thing. Nonetheless, the bastard had said it just to spite her.

Hermione firmly believed he had no feelings. She had seen him smile once. Once, and it happened to be at the fact that she threw a book down. How very Slytherin of him.

He’s still a bastard, she thought. One smile or not.

Hermione finished placing the books on the shelves in no time, seeing as she had more strength since she had picked at three meals. Nevertheless, she had more energy with the nutrition. Maybe that pamphlet did do some good, who knows?

Forgetting about the pamphlet, Hermione wiped her hands off on her robes and walked to the door that Professor Snape had entered twenty minutes earlier. She pushed it open a little and peered inside.

Snape was leaning over a cauldron adding an ingredient that looked somewhat like dried sheepflower leaves when he noticed Hermione standing at the door.

“What is it, Miss Granger?”

“I’m finished with the bookshelf, er– sir.” She stepped into the room, closing the door behind her as it had been before she opened it. Staring at Snape, she seemed to be rooted on the spot, feeling somewhat vulnerable standing in his private labs.

Getting hot, Hermione took off her outer robes, and was left standing in her muggle jeans and long-sleeved t-shirt. She put her robes down on the wooden chair in the corner of the lab.

She looked around and noticed that the lab was fully equipped with ever potion-making utensil ever made. Ingredients from all over the world lined the walls in jars of all sizes. Hermione was fascinated.

Snape watched her eyes brighten a bit at the lab, and he grinned to himself. If there was one thing the Potions Master was proud of, it was his lab.

“Miss Granger, while you’re standing there doing nothing, do you think you could manage to come over here and help me?”

Hermione, out of her reverie, nodded quickly and went over to Professor Snape. He handed her a set of vials that were to be stopped and labeled, and gave her instructions.

“This is the Dreamless Sleep Draught that I make for Poppy every so often. You need to fill the vials and cork them, then write out a label for each vial. There are thirty-six or so vials that need to be finished tonight.” With that, he left her to do the job, and he left his private lab.

Hermione looked down at the potion simmering in the cauldron and froze. This is it, she thought. Now or never.

Right off the bat, Hermione got two vials and filled them with the draught, and then put them in the pockets of her discarded robes, and then continued on filling the rest of the vials.

Hermione didn’t feel the least bit guilty – in her position, she couldn’t afford to feel guilty. She really needed the potion, but knew that she would never have the heart to actually ask for it. The only other time Hermione had stolen ingredients from Professor Snape was the year she made the Polyjuice potion for Harry, Ron, and herself.

Happy with the thought of a full night of most-needed rest, Hermione happily bottled and stopped the vials with the blue potion. She was just beginning to make the labels when Professor Snape walked in.

“No talking while I brew this potion, Miss Granger.” He cleared the extra potion out of the bottom of the cauldron with a flick of his wand and began inserting new ingredients.

He stopped for a minute and walked over to where the chair was in the corner and took Hermione’s robes off, laying them on an empty spot on the counter. An all too suspicious, clink, clink forced the spy in him to come out. He reached into her robes and pulled out the two vials of the Dreamless Sleep Draught.

Hermione, oblivious to Snape discovering her stolen goods, continued to mark the vials. It wasn’t until she felt his presence behind her that she turned around.

“Miss Granger, there had better be an explanation for this.” He held up the vials in front of her nose and watched as her eyes widened in fear.

“I– I...” she stopped, unable to go on. Her eyes, tearing at the thought of another night filled with Draco Malfoy.

“Do not blubber in my presence, Miss Granger. Explain to my why you feel the need to steal from my private labs... again ”

“Sir, I... I need the potion, sir. I- I can’t sleep well.” She looked away guiltily and closed her eyes, allowing the captive tears to roll down her cheeks.

Snape leaned in a little. “Since when is that my problem?”

He knew what he was doing. He was tempting her to spill the beans she had so far protected with every ounce of her pride.

Hermione’s head snapped back and her eyes narrowed. “You are a cruel bastard,” she seethed, looking him straight in the eye. “You don’t know what I’ve been through lately. You haven’t a fucking clue ”

“Intimidation was never your forte, Miss Granger.” He smirked at her rage-filled eyes. “Fifty points from Gryffindor for stealing from my private labs. Now, get out.”

Hermione ran over to her robes, grabbed them, then continued out of Snape’s private labs and classroom. She ran all the way back to her rooms, where she locked and warded the doors, and then threw herself down on the couch.

Stupid, greasy, fucking git. I hate him. I hope he falls off the edge of a cliff and smashes his head on a boulder in the middle of the sea. Fucking asshole. He hasn’t a clue... He hasn’t a fucking clue. Not one. Not ONE.

Hermione punched the side of the couch as the tears continued to spill down her cheeks. She almost missed the tapping at the window. Getting up, she walked over to it and opened it, allowing the messenger raven into her rooms. It stared at her for a minute and then lifted its leg for her to untie the small bundle that was bound there.

Hermione reached out and gently untied the bundle, and then pet the raven on its head. “I’m sorry, I don’t have any treats.”

As if understanding her, the raven flew out of the window and into the dark night beyond. Hermione stared at the little bag the bird had brought, wondering who it was from. She untied the knot holding it closed and pulled out two vials of the potion she had tried to steal earlier. Surprised, she hardly noticed the note sitting in the bottom of the bag.

When she found it, she read it aloud.

Miss Granger,
Under the circumstances, you may have these.
Professor S. Snape
PS - I know more than you think.


She stared at the scribbled writing for a few minutes, puzzled at his meaning. He knew more than she thinks? What the hell was that supposed to mean? Had Draco told him what happened? She looked down at the two vials in her hand, and admitted to herself that she was grateful that he had given them to her.

With one, long gulp, Hermione swallowed the contents of one vial and sat down on the couch. She ran one finger down the length of the scabbing slit on her forearm, cringing at the slight pain. Her actions that night were spontaneous. She got caught up in her livid emotions.

Pulling her sleeve back down, she stood and went to her bed quarters where she undressed and got into bed. It was the first full night of sleep she got without that horrible nightmare plaguing her mind. Her eyelids didn’t twitch once in the calm of the night.

{--------------------------------------------}

After flooing the Dreamless Sleep Draughts to Poppy in the infirmary, Severus himself got into the fireplace and floo’d himself to the Headmaster’s office. It was late, but when he arrived, Albus was sitting behind his large desk writing something down on a piece of parchment.

“Good evening, Severus. What can I do for you, my boy?”

Professor Snape took a seat in front of the Headmaster’s desk. “I’ve found something interesting about Miss Granger, Albus, and I think you should know.”

Albus, his eyes twinkling, inquired about the information Severus had discovered. “Is it as bad as I fear, Severus?”

“Maybe worse, sir,” said Snape who had run his long fingers through his hair, sighing. “She tried to steal two vials of the Dreamless Sleep Draught.”

“Oh, my.” Albus looked away, thinking.

“Albus, I gave them to her.”

Albus’s head snapped back and he stared at Snape for a minute, still contemplating something. “I believe you made the right choice, Severus. Let’s keep this under the radar, okay? Hermione will tell us in her own time, but for now we must make sure that she can trust you. Continue giving her the potion, Severus.”

Snape’s face momentarily scrunched with displeasure, but then smoothed as he nodded. “As you wish, sir.”

{--------------------------------------------}

The next morning, Hermione woke early and refreshed. The heavy weight from not sleeping had been lifted off of her shoulders throughout the night, and she felt a million times better. However, the edges of that little bug still resided in the darkest corner of her brain. When she had stepped out of her bed, she realized that she felt more like herself after getting the much needed sleep, but she knew that something was still off.

She wasn’t entirely herself - she felt as if she were someone else, someone living and acting like the old her for a minute. She stepped in front of the mirror and stared back at herself, wondering if there really was somebody else locked and trapped inside of her body.

Pulling away from the mirror and shaking her head, she walked into the connecting bathroom and completed her morning ritual, including the purging of her thighs. While under the hot showerhead, Hermione thought about what she could do to thank Snape for the potion.

She knew he had gone out of his way to do that, and she realized that he probably hadn’t done that for any of the other students. Momentarily fazed, Hermione thought about the surprised look on his face when she had begged him for the potion.

Hermione also knew that she had damaged both of their prides the night before - her’s by imploring for the drought, and his by sending the “Insufferable Know-It-All” something that could actually help her. However, when it came down to it, she didn’t really mind.

Maybe it’ll soften the old goat up a bit, she thought to herself, chuckling.

Turning the water off, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself and walked back into the adjoining room. Hermione dried off and dressed quickly, as a spontaneous feeling of being famished passed over her.

Making her way out of her rooms, Hermione listened to the wards click into place the second she shut the door. The hallway was littered with scattered students, all making their ways to the Great Hall at their own paces.

When people looked at her, she felt as if they could see right through her, as if she were made of glass, and that every single thought she possessed could be read.

Shaking her head, Hermione quickly entered the Great Hall and took a seat beside Ginny Weasley, her sixth-year friend, and began piling the food on her plate. A few minutes later, Harry and Ron showed up, but were discussing quidditch, of course, and paid no mind to her.

Halfway through the meal, Hermione looked up and met eyes with Snape. Looking away, Hermione asked Ginny for a piece of parchment and a quill. Having the materials she needed, Hermione wrote out a short letter and folded it and looked around her.

Seeing as nobody was watching her, Hermione removed her wand from her robes and pointed it at the piece of folded parchment and muttered a few words. The parchment disappeared and then reappeared beside Snape’s plate with a small poof of smoke.

Hermione watched from her seat beside her oblivious friends at the potions master who was staring wearily at the piece of parchment. Finally, he picked it up and unfolded it, reading the short message written there. His head snapped up, and for the second time that morning, their eyes caught each other.

Snape sat at the head table and reread the note Hermione Granger had just sent him. It wasn’t too unusual, just unexpected. After her behavior the night before, he thought that she would be too embarrassed to even look at him. Hell, he was embarrassed for himself to have had to watch her teenage hormones fly around at an all time high, and then again for having to befriend the little wench.

Snape’s eyes darted over the crinkled paper for a fourth time.

Professor Snape,

I just wanted to thank you for the potion. It was very sweet of you.

Most sincerely,
Hermione


Sweet. She had called him sweet. Bloody hell.

Severus Snape was not sweet.


End of Chapter Five / To Be Continued

A/N: divine angel, Biokinetic, JTBJAB, sarah123, destiny black, Anon, DDMalfoy, ... Thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate it.

Anyway, hope you liked the chapter. ;)