Keogh

~***~

She was burning up, and she thought she might have been buried alive were it not for the fact that her face was still cool. Her head was still hurting but not as badly as it had been before. Cautiously she opened one eye and peered around before daring to open the other.

She was in the hospital wing, and she felt buried alive because Pomfrey had apparently piled every blanket in the castle atop her. Hermione gave a muffled ‘oomph’ and tried to push them off.

“’Mione!” Ron’s face came into view to her left, soon joined by Harry’s on her right. They started to pull off the covers quickly. When she was able to get up into a semi-seated position she could see Ginny was also there to lend a hand. “Are you all right? You had us scared to death! Everyone!”

Ginny crawled onto the bed and made her way up to hug the older girl. “From the way Lavender was screeching we thought Black must have somehow gotten into the tower and murdered you.”

Hermione returned the hug, grateful to have her friends here. “How… how long was I out?”

“All afternoon. It was scary. Snape was in here, just sitting on that bed and staring until me and Harry came in, then he jumped up and started yelling at us for no reason until Dumbledore made him go into Madam Pomfrey’s office with McGonagall and Vector.”

“Huh. Wonder if he was hoping you’d keel over or if he was actually concerned.”

Hermione froze. That voice was just too bloody familiar right now. She must have looked off because Harry frowned. “You need us to get Madam Pomfrey for you, ‘Mione?”

“What part of speak-to-the-dead did you not understand? Now let’s work on your acting skills.”

“Uh… no… I just remembered that I missed my classes.” She blinked as real panic set in. “I missed my classes!”

“I would be impressed by that if I couldn’t clearly see that you really are upset. You do realize there is life outside of books, right?”

Ron gave a sigh of relief. Apparently he was of the mind that if she could think clearly enough to let that upset her then she must be fine. “Don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll give you a pass under the circumstances.”

“But I’m already behind, and it’s only the first week!”

Her raised voice resulted in the door to Madam Pomfrey’s office being flung open. She saw something tall and black approaching quickly from the side of her vision. She turned to see Snape hurrying towards her, his eyes strangely lit from within.

“Well shit-fire-mother-fucking-damn! He’s actually worried. I would have lost good money on that bet.”

He truly did seem concerned. Harry scrambled to get out of the way as Severus took a seat on the side of her bed, hand reaching out to brush away a stray lock of her hair. “Your headache?”

“Fading, Sir.”

He seemed to weigh her words for truth before nodding. “Your skin is warming again as well. Madam Pomfrey will be bringing you another potion for the residual discomfort.”

“Ah, Miss Granger, it’s lovely to see you awake once more.”

Hermione looked past Severus’ shoulder to see Professor Dumbledore approaching them, a relieved looking McGonagall at his side. Madam Pomfrey wasn’t as sedate. The mediwitch was never happier than when she was in a state of near-panic and had someone to fuss over. Hermione stifled a groan as she was fed another peppermint-sock potion.

Professor Vector was still standing in the doorway of the office, his head bent over a familiar sheet of paper. She wondered what the wizard could see.

“Not very much, I would think. It’s not magic. Not really at any rate.”

“But how can you be certain? He’s very clever.”

“Crushing on your teacher?”

“What?” Something must have shown in her eyes because Dumbledore asked if she were all right. “What? Oh, yes, Sir. Just worried about my lessons.”

He didn’t look as though he believed her, but let it go. “Miss Granger, perhaps you would be so kind as to tell us what transpired in relation to the… message from your birth mother. As you comprehend it, of course.”

She looked around her to find all eyes turned her way. Harry, Ron and Ginny were sitting shoulder to shoulder on the next bed over. Dumbledore and McGonagall were standing near the foot of her bed. Madam Pomfrey had an eagle-like gaze studying her face and Snape… well… he was reminding her a bit too much of her father at the moment.

“Well he is…”

“Shut up!”

She swallowed. “I… I’m sorry, Headmaster. I probably should have brought the equations to Professor Vector first, but it felt… private.”

“What happened, Miss Granger?”

“Careful, Girl. You must tread slowly here. This world may have necromancers, but they don’t care for them. The decent folk don’t at any rate. And they likely won’t understand the difference between us and them. Take care in how much you reveal.”

She was right, of course. Hermione swallowed. “It… it was a sort of message, Sir. Rather clever. I don’t know how she did it since she wasn’t a witch… but she left a message for me. They… opened a kind of dream where she was with me. She… she said she just wanted me to know who she was.”

She felt Severus’ weight shift from the edge of the bed so that he could take seat in a nearby chair. She thought she heard him give a disdainful snort. Apparently he didn’t care much for the memory of Kathryn St. James.

“Well I didn’t much care for the memory of him, so we’re even. Although it was fun for a while.”

“Professor Snape was fun?”

“Haven’t you heard the old wives’ tale about the size of a man’s nose being an indication as to the size of his…”

“I do not want to hear anymore!”

“Hmmm… well… perhaps you are a bit young for that discussion.”

“I would say so!”

“Can you describe her, Miss Granger?”

She swallowed and nodded before struggling to recall Kathryn from the ‘dream’. Tall and slender, and not with a lot of curve to her. The tight black shirt and jeans. The heavy boots better suited to a motorbike. And a pretty face even with the somewhat jaded expression. To her surprise her ‘mother’ didn’t voice any objections to the description. Even when Hermione mentioned that she came across as a bit ‘butch’.

Severus nodded in confirmation to the Headmaster. That description did match the woman he had known, only it had been the seventies then and her manner of dress had been a bit different. “Did she say anything else?”

Hermione shook her head. “No, Sir. She just said that she wanted me to know who she was and that… that she felt she’d done best by me when she gave me to Mum and Dad.”

“Keeping it close to the truth without blabbing everything. Quite sharp of you, especially with Severus. Watch him. He knows some bit of magic that’s a lot like telepathy, only not as invasive. He’ll be able to tell a bald faced lie in a heart beat.”

“He didn’t seem to notice first year when I lied about the troll.”

“I wouldn’t bet on that if I were you. Wait… trolls are real?”

She had to fight not to smirk. Kathy came across as so smug and superior that she was rather happy she could give her pause. She almost missed the part where Vector was talking to Dumbledore. “It’s rather brilliant work, actually. I don’t think my NEWT level students could have figured this out. Not arithmancy, per se, but definitely higher maths. I know Minerva said she was clever but I never expected…”

“Everyone here knows the girl is a bloody prodigy! Is she in danger of this happening again?” Severus’ voice made her cringe. He sounded furious.

Professor Vector collected himself, shrugging off the Potion Master’s ire. “I don’t believe so, no. Not as long as she avoids any more unapproved equations.” The arithmancy teacher leveled a gaze at her. “Were there any other sheets like this one?”

“No, Professor. That was the only one.”

“I see. Well then, Miss Granger, you should be all right. However, I think it best that should any other ‘messages’ arrive in the future you bring them to me first.”

She nodded, agreeing completely. “Please tell me that’s the last time this happens.”

“It is. I only locked the one door. Without the Deadspeak you weren’t likely to notice any of the rest, so that was all I had to deal with.”

“Rest of what?”

“We’ll cover that later.”

Dumbledore had moved closer and was peering down at her closely. “I rather think that our Miss Granger will be all right, Severus. However, perhaps it would be wise for her to come back and see Poppy in a few days for a check up.” He smiled, eyes twinkling. “Now, I believe she is likely quite anxious to get her assignments she missed and catch up.”

She sighed with relief. “Thank you, Sir.” Snape clearly didn’t agree, but she really wanted out of this room before anyone went poking around inside her skull any further. “May I go now, Madam Pomfrey?”

The mediwitch bristled, but Harry, Ron and Ginny swore that they would see their friend back to the tower safely. The boys continued to promise even as Ginny helped Hermione put her shoes back onto her feet and get up from the bed. The escapee gave the professors a slight smile and walked sedately from the hospital wing, not daring to pick up the pace until the doors were shut behind them in case she incur the wrath of Madam Pomfrey.

~***~

Albus looked over at his Potions Master who was still sitting stiffly in the chair. “Give her time, Severus. She will not accept you over night.”

Snape swallowed. “I am aware of that, Headmaster.”

The aged wizard gave the younger man a gentle smile. “I know this is hard for you. She cannot be the girl you would have raised.”

Severus shook his head. “No, she is not. The child I would have raised would have never been so full of life. I would have crushed it out of her long ago.”

“I sincerely doubt that.”

“I don’t!” He shot a glare at Albus. “You know what kind of a person I am! She would never have stood a chance. And she certainly would never have been in Gryffindor! She would have ended up one of Malfoy’s sycophants, drooling after him like the Parkinson girl.”

Minerva snorted. “Oh, now that is ridiculous!” Her shoulders flexed restlessly under her cloak. “You would have beaten her within an inch of her life at the first sign of drooling.”

Severus stared at the witch. Was she trying to be humorous? Well, perhaps not. He would have given her a sound tongue lashing at the very least. No child of his would bow and scrape to someone so clearly beneath her as Draco. That boy had quite a bit more growing up to do, and would eventually need to get out from under his father’s shadow before he would actually have any respect for him.

Still, what had he expected? For her to lean over and cling to him? Ask him to kiss it better? Jacob Granger was her father in every way that mattered save for blood. The man had changed her nappies when she had been an infant, had picked her up and soothed the bruises when she’d fallen down and had chased the monsters from underneath her bed in the middle of the night.

The only claim Severus had on her was an ejaculation that had happened over 14 years ago which had resulted in the creation of a beautiful, brilliant young girl who would one day become a beautiful, brilliant young woman. Under muggle laws he had little to no rights whatsoever. He could still pursue it under magical law, but Narcissa’s warnings that he’d likely end up with an angry, spiteful teenager on his hands still rang in his ears.

Something inside him sighed. He shouldn’t push too hard. Not in this. Perhaps inviting her to join him in his quarters for tea would be a step in the right direction. A civilized custom, tea, and something neutral both might enjoy.

~***~