Love is Blind

Chapter 6

Hermione and Severus sat up and talked for many
hours. Lunch had come and gone, the next thing they knew the sun had gone down
and it was time for dinner.

“Smells like roast,” Hermione said as the smell from
the Great Hall wafted into the hospital wing. “I am famished.”

“I can have the house elves send dome up if you
want, “Severus offered politely.

“As long as you would be so kind as to join me,
Severus,” she smiled.

Severus chuckled, "As you wish, Miss Granger.”

“Did I just hear a laugh in that response, Professor
Snape?” she joked with a tone of mock surprise.

He laughed out loud; it was music to her ears.
“Thank you, Hermione. It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed.”

“Why is that Severus? I guess I don’t understand why
someone would seclude themselves in a dungeon for 20 years.”

Severus gritted his teeth and sighed deeply. This is
not the conversation he wanted to have just now. “Let me just go get our
dinner,” he said coldly.

Hermione mentally kicked herself. ‘Insert foot
into mouth…and chew.’ she thought. “Severus, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to
upset you. You don’t have to answer that.”

“Someday, Miss Granger, you may understand it, but I
hope you never have to,” he had said calmly as she heard his footsteps fading
out of the room.

Hermione buried her face into the pillow. If she
could cry, she would. The day had gone by so well. They had talked all day. The
lycanthropy cure was discussed thoroughly along with other more mundane topics.
Their research would proceed as planned, even though she wasn’t sure how that
would happen – she couldn’t read; she couldn’t measure. How was she supposed to
work? Talking with Severus throughout the day had kept her mind off of her
infliction.

She heard footsteps coming toward her. The strides
were much shorter than Severus’ and not so confident. Slowing close to her bed,
she heard a sharp intake of breath. The smell was familiar, but she couldn’t
put her finger on it – it was something like pine.

She raised her head toward the visitor. “Who’s
there?”

“Hermione?” said a familiar voice.

“Ron?”

The redhead rushed to her side and grabbed her hand.
“Gods, Hermione,” he shuddered. “Remus told Harry and I what happened… I wasn’t
expecting this.”

“Thank you for your subtlety, Ron,” she said
sarcastically. “I’m all right, really.”

Another set of footsteps sounded through the room
and stopped at the foot of her bed. Suddenly a calloused hand grabbed her toes.
“Hi Harry,” she said smiling.

“How’d you know it was me?” he said with a tone of
pseudo-anger.

She smiled. “Well, number one – wherever Ron is, you
are. Number two – you smell like mint. And number three – no one else grabs my
toes as a sign of affection,” she laughed, shaking her head.

“Oi, you got me. “ He came and sat down on the other
side of the bed, opposite of Ron. “How are you?” his tone was somber.

“I’m all right. It looks worse than it is… I think,”
she said hesitantly.

“Did Madam Pomfrey say anything about your
recovery?” Harry asked, gently combing his fingers through her hair.

“Poppy isn’t sure if I will recover completely, but
Severus is working on it.”

“Severus? As in… Snape?”

“Yes, Ron. Severus Snape,” she snapped.

“Hermione, I thought that this whole situation was
Snape’s fault. Now’s he’s helping you? That doesn’t sound like Snape, “Harry
stated flatly.

“Harry. Ron. Severus has been here since I cam in.
He feels guilty enough, even though I won’t let him take the blame.”

“Why not?” Ron exclaimed. “He’s a pain in the arse.
And since when are you two on a first-name basis?” The bitterness was clear in
his voice.

Hermione bit honguongue momentarily, to keep from
lashing out at her two best friends. She struggled to keep her tone even and
calm, trying to keep her temper, when she said, “For your information, he and I
have had a very nice day today. He actually is a person and has
feelings, just like you and me. He…”

“Just last week he was a greasy git. When did all
that change?” Ron interrupted.

“It doesn’t matter when, but it did. He has treated
me with more respect in the past few days than either of you have shown me in a
long while. I’m having a bad enough evening as it is, don’t make it worse.” Her
voice was low and steady. Harry and Ron had never heard her this pissed off.
She was beyond yelling and was just plain scary.

“Sorry, ‘Mione,” Harry surrendered. He had come here
to make her feel better not make her blow up.

“Yeah, ‘Mione. We’re sorry. It’s just… Snape.”
Ron added, receiving a fiery glare from Harry.

“I just want to be alone. Go, please,” she said
through gritted teeth.

“Sure, we’ll come by tomorrow,” Harry said as the
two of them stood to leave.

“We love you, Hermione,” Ron added softly.

“I know. I love you guys too, but I just can’t deal
with your petty stubbornness right now,” she sighed. “Give me a couple of days
to get used to all of this, then we can talk. All right?”

“All right. Good night, ‘Mione,” Harry whispered as
he kissed her forehead. Ron squeezed her hand and without a word left the
hospital wing with Harry.

Severus stood quietly behind the screen holding two
trays of food as he watched Hermione’s best friends silently leave.