Chapter 14

Disclaimer: Not mine. I just borrowed them for a while. I promise to put them back when I'm done. Oh, nope, no money either...just for fun.

Many thanks to my betas, EverMystique and DuchessOfArcadia, for helping me clean up my many mistakes, and to Pookah for the shoulder and friendly advice. I really appreciate it more than you can possibly know.

Severus was still really angry about the attack. He'd just found a sizable growth of bright yellow, stacked layers of Sulphur Shelf mushroom on the 'wound' of a huge, old tree. He hadn't heard the Gryffindor four approach until it was too late. First, Potter and Black had both hit him with the Disarming Spell with enough force to slam his backside against the thick roots of an old beech tree behind him, which had apparently damaged his kidneys. Then, when he'd tried to defend himself, Potter had hit him with a Body-Bind while Black had raised him up by his ankle with the Levicorpus at the same time that Pettigrew had cast a Flinging Spell. Severus had no idea that being slammed against a tree while being hung upside-down and in a Body-Bind would break so many bones at once, but Madam Pomfrey had mended them all in a jiffy. However, the damage to his kidneys had Madam Pomfrey really worried.

The potion helped, but the discomfort made it uncomfortable for him to lie or sit for too long. Not that Madam Pomfrey liked having her patients pace in her hospital wing, but since his backside had hurt so much, he couldn't stand lying in bed for any amount of time. That, and he wanted to collect the mushrooms before the next full moon, hopefully without being attacked again. And that meant having backup. At least Hermione hadn't noticed his restlessness. Still, he dreaded going to the hospital wing for his agreed upon check up and potion regime. He fully remembered the argument with Madam Pomfrey the night before when he'd refused to stay in bed any longer.

Slughorn came to collect Severus before breakfast and chatted with him all the way to the hospital wing about the remarkable changes he'd made with his last potion. "I sent your Euphoria Elixir to Healer Weston McKenna at St. Mungo's. He was quite impressed, Mr. Snape. He had never considered your use of peppermint to counterbalance the side effects of excessive singing and nose-tweaking...most ingenious of you. I have entered you and Miss Evans for the Hector Dagworth-Granger Most Extraordinary Junior Potioneers award. Two of my top students, both up for it this year. I'm so proud."

Severus was about to say thank you, but Slughorn went into his usual bit about the time when he'd won his Junior Potioneers award. "... had my picture taken with Reginold Waldheim, the Minister of Magic, and the Chief Healer-in-Charge of St. Mungo's himself, not that I didn't have Gordon McDermid as a student back in the day. Did I tell you about him? He was the..."

Severus tuned him out as he considered the best way to escape back to the forest to collect his ingredients.

Madam Pomfrey hovered over him the moment he sat on the examining bed. "I should've insisted that you'd stayed here in bed for four more days, but you persisted that you'd leave anyway to go brew potions in that private lab of yours," she admonished him.

"But, I know how much you wanted the potion I was brewing," he said, pulling several bottles out of his pockets and laying them on the bed.

She took the bottles and scowled at him. "I thought I said you were not to carry heavy things! I should keep you here, even if I have to tie you to the bed," the Healer said accusingly; however, she was smiling despite herself at the potions.

"I'll stay in bed and read," Severus protested.

Madam Pomfrey scowled at him. "You know that you'll be brewing potions all day if I let you go, and I want you resting. I don't want you lifting anything heavy...and that means no lifting cauldrons!"

"I'll have my dorm mates do my heavy lifting," Severus promised, knowing that at least Hermione would help him move the cauldrons. "And I can levitate anything..."

"That falls under heavy lifting, Mr. Snape. Magical or not, there is a certain amount of exertion involved..."

"Madam Pomfrey, I'm sure Mr. Snape will be responsible," Professor Slughorn unintentionally interrupted as he tried, once again, to reassure her. "I shall assume personal responsibility to keep Severus in his dorm room for four days, and Severus will swear that he won't lift anything heavier than his knife, stirring rod, or quill."

In the end, despite knowing her patient so well, or because she knew he would refuse to say in the hospital, Madam Pomfrey finally relented, reluctantly, and accepted the assurances of Professor Slughorn. However, she only released him on the condition that Severus see her for the next four days, before breakfast and after dinner, for treatment.

Slughorn escorted Severus to the dungeons. However, he led him to the classroom instead of the common room. Severus knew it was most likely to assure himself that he had enough ingredients to brew the hospital's requirements for the rest of the school year. Thankfully, Hermione was on her bed, or Severus assumed so, since he didn't see or hear her when they entered the room.

"Good, good, you seem to have everything well stocked," Slughorn prattled on, examining the potion ingredients. "I see you even have snacks. Don't want you to skip meals just so you can get your brewing done, now do we?"

Severus looked at the benches and cringed. All of Hermione's books were stacked neatly and grouped by subject, except for the growling book. Please don't be on the floor. "Yes, Sir," Severus said, hoping that the professor didn't look too closely at the titles of the books.

"Now, let's get you settled in your room, shall we? I don't want Madam Pomfrey to think I went back on my word. I'll arrange with your professors to have your school work brought down to you," Slughorn rattled off.

"Thank you, sir," Severus said politely, giving the man just enough deference to flatter him without sounding like a suck up.

"You certainly have quite a collection in there," Slughorn stated, patting Severus on the shoulder. "Do any need to go back to the library?"

"A few, but I was hoping to exchange some after lunch, sir," Severus stated as they left the room.

"I'll ask one of my students to help you," Slughorn said as he led Severus out the door for the Slytherin common room.

"I'll ask Mulciber or Avery." He wished that Slughorn would go, but it didn't hurt to humor the man. He listened to the professor brag about the healing potions he'd invented for the Quidditch mediwizards as they walked to his dorm room.

"Catriona McCormack, Chaser and captain of the Pride of Portrees, really relies on my Bruise Paste, you know. Says it's the best she's ever used. She should try yours, Severus, and your one for sprains. I've never seen better."

"Thank you, sir." Severus smiled, knowing that if the captain of the Quidditch team The Prides liked his potions, he'd have a steady income for life. Mr. Avery had introduced him to Kevin and Karl Broadmoor, the two Slytherin ex-Beaters for the Falmouth Falcons over Christmas hols, and they both used his potions now. "I'd really appreciate a letter of introduction, sir."

"Oh, Severus, so eager," Professor Slughorn said, opening the door to the common room for him. "Can't wait until you leave school to get started on that brilliant Potions career of yours."

When Professor Slughorn finally left, Severus waited all of ten minutes before he got up to go to the classroom.

Hermione stepped forward to greet him when he returned. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Better," he said, easing down into a chair.

She tilted her head as she watched him. "You don't look better. You look stiff and uncomfortable."

He shot her a warning glare.

She reached out to take his hand. "C'mon."

"Where?"

"Please trust me," she implored, drawing him to her bed instead of the door, so he complied. "Take off your robes and shirt, and then lie down on your stomach."

He looked at her, his brow creased in confusion as she dug in her bag, pulling out a large tub of liniment.

"Lie down and take off your robes and shirt," she repeated, pointing at the bed.

"What's that?" he asked, indicating the jar with a jut of his chin.

"Something you created for back and muscle pain... I get cramps in my calves, and the Quidditch team uses it for aches, especially when they get hit with a Bludger. Now strip and lie down."

Something in her tone, plus the fact that she said he'd made it, obviously in the future, encouraged him to comply. The liniment was cool on contact, but then she straddled his hips and started to rub it on his back. The sensations were heavenly. The liniment was warm under her hands, and it slowly cooled where his skin lay exposed, but never truly felt chilly. Hermione ran her hands up and down his back in long, firm strokes. He moaned in pleasure except when she rubbed where the kidney pain was. He felt her add more liniment and caress his lower back and sides, gently working the stuff into his skin.

He did not know when he'd fallen asleep, but when he woke, he was still on his stomach on her bed. She sat in a chair, her feet propped up on the bed. "What in heaven is in that stuff?" he asked, surprised that most of the ache was gone.

"I have no idea," she replied, dropping her feet to the floor. "You'll need more tonight and tomorrow, but your back pain will be gone in a day or two."

"Oh, I won't complain about getting more of that treatment!" he said smoothly as he moved and stretched, amazed at the difference he felt. "Hermione, thank you."

She blushed deeply and shrugged. "No problem. I'm glad it helped."

He looked at his watch and gasped. It's lunch time already! I promised to tutor Mulciber... "Shite, I'm late!" He jumped up and ran out the door. "I'll be back."

He returned later, carrying cheese, several apples, pears, half a dozen apple turnovers, and a pile of sliced beef on rolls, enough food for four of them.

"Trying to fatten me up?" she teased him.

"Nope, don't want you to go without if anything happens to me again," he said, sitting down as she set the table. "Take what you want, and I'll put the rest in stasis for you."

"Aren't you going to eat?" she asked, taking a beef roll and a pear.

"Nope, I ate on the way back here," he replied as he turned and put the food on the bench with her other stash. He collected his Potions books and joined her at the table. He'd borrowed a leaf of parchment from Mulciber and had copied down two versions of the Pimple Unction, one from his Advanced Potions book and another Pimple Solution he had found in Magical Remedies and Cures for the Everyday Problems by Sacharissa Tugwood. In Severus' opinion, the Pimple Unction was better, but it was not as quick-reacting as the Pimple Solution, which used bubotuber pus as a base. However, the unction lasted longer. Nevertheless, the girls in his house frequently complained that neither of them worked all the time. If I could just find a way to blend them, use the...

"What are you working on?" she asked between bites.

He looked up from his book. "I was wondering if I could improve on the potion we did in class. I heard the girls saying that it's only seventy-percent effective and only if they don't have a serious condition. I want to see if I can make it better...more effective."

"Oh," she replied, watching him as she finished eating.

He spent a good part of the afternoon reading potions books, trying to find a way to improve the Pimple Unction, and working out several possible variations as she read quietly. When he started brewing, she came over to help, laughing when his first variation almost melted the cauldron.

"It's not funny!" he snapped and glared at her as he tossed the useless cauldron under the table.

Hermione tried to suppress her mirth. "I can't believe that you melted a cauldron, that's all." She picked up his parchment and started to read his notes.

He wanted to snatch it out of her hand, but he refused to look at her if she was going to smirk at him for a simple mistake. "It happens. Salamander blood with the honey and orange peel makes a good astringent, and the camphor and groundnut oil keeps it from irritating the skin. However, I want to add bundimun secretion, but it reacts strongly to the salamander blood and streeler secretion making the potion too hot."

She set his parchment on the worktable. "Doesn't bundimun secretion need to be balanced with raw, sour Gruinard goat milk?"

He looked at her in amazement. "The lactic acid in the sour milk would do that. Where did you learn that?"

"In Potions. My professor mentioned it when he lectured us on the use of secretions in potions, so I looked it up. I found an article in a Potions journal about how lactic acid balances some of the more pungent secretions when two or more are used together in potions. But, it was discounted in Concocting Potions, Both Strange and Wonderful by Helga Grosselin. I have the book with me, since I like to use it as a reference. Dad sent me a copy for Christmas. She has a rather complete index of potion ingredients, their uses and interactions," Hermione stated with a shrug.

"That would balance the bundimun in the Pimple Unction, but it would still be too irritating," he said, crossing out the annotations for the failed version.

"When Lavender got a pimple, she showed me an article in Witch Weekly about how some witch used a cleaning solution with bundimun mixed with tomato paste and it fried her face, so the Healer suggested sour Gruinard goat milk, honey, lime juice, and raw sugar to resolve the..."

He was looking at his notes as she spoke and unintentionally cut her off, muttering, "And with sugar and fenugreek leaves... Yes, that would do it!"

"You're welcome," Hermione said with a smile, sitting at the desk and burying her nose back in her book as Severus tried to work out when to add the ingredients and the adjustments to the timing and stirring rod strokes.

His first attempt turned foul. The second time, he miscalculated terribly. The third potion turned a muted lime green instead of pink, and the fourth was a pale greenish-blue color.

"That's how it looked in the Potions book," she said when he scoffed at the color.

"Green?" he asked.

She nodded in assurance. "Turquoise, or slightly greenish if done right," she said, squinting at him in confusion. "What color did you think it should be?"

He shrugged, saying, "The original version is pink." He set it aside to cool. "Don't tell me you've made this potion, too."

Hermione blushed. "I made a cauldron-full for Lavender because I got tired of hearing her whine about her acne... I didn't use fenugreek leaves or sugar, and mine wasn't this thick. She had to use a lotion because of the irritation and wash her face twice a day."

"I'll have one of the girls try it to see how it works." He bottled his sample and cleaned his cauldron. He'd wait before crossing out the other options until both batches were properly tested.

"I thought a Potion brewer tested his own potions," she chided him.

He crossed his arms and leaned against the worktable. "In case you failed to notice, I don't have pimples."

She turned her head to hide her blush. "I should rub more of the liniment into your back," she suggested, probably to change the subject.

He shrugged nonchalantly and followed her to her bed, stripping his shirt off as he went. He lay down, smiling as she straddled his hips again and began rubbing the concoction in. His last thought, as he drifted to sleep, was that he just had to figure out what his older self had put in the liniment.

When he woke, Hermione was sitting beside him, reading another book. He checked his watch and frowned. He'd never fallen asleep like this in the daytime before except when he'd taken naps as a little kid or had been given sleeping potions. "Damn, I slept right though dinner. Are you hungry?"

"I had one of my apples earlier," she said, turning the page.

He looked at her foot next to his hand and smirked at the nail polish on her little toes. Merlin, she has small feet. "Well, I might as well go get something. Is there anything you want in particular?"

She let her book rest on her legs and bit her lip as she considered his offer. "Bangers and mash... or bangers with bubble and squeak," she said with a smile.

He smiled at her suggestions, suddenly having a craving for them as well. "I'll see if they have any blancmange or tarts with clotted cream for pudding," he suggested, knowing that the house-elves would make them for him if he asked.

The next morning, Severus woke early, still unable to lie in bed for very long. Hermione offered to rub more liniment on his back. He pulled off his shirt and stretched out on her bed, secretly eager to receive her ministrations. When she finished, she sat cross-legged beside him. They talked about the Defense Against the Dark Arts, which led to a discussion on the Dark Arts.

"Hermione, what differentiates charms from curses is really only the intent," he replied to her inquiry. "Same goes for most of the Dark Arts. They are curses, hexes, and charms used with the intent to do bodily harm. It's not always the spell in itself; it's the intent of the caster."

She rolled her wand lazily in her hand. "So whoever is faster...?"

"It's not always speed, but accuracy and determination that wins the duel," he said, rolling over on his side. "The Dark Arts are not as static as, say, Charms or Transfiguration. Once a new Transfiguration spell is discovered, it's written in a book and everyone uses it... unless a slight variation makes the spell easier or more effective."

He adjusted her pillow to make himself more comfortable. "Dark Arts are varied and as unique as the individuals who use them; they are ever-changing and as twisted as the mind that conceives them. To defend yourself, you must be equally as creative, resourceful, and determined. Your attacker might be more fierce and clever than you, so you must be flexible and inventive in your defense."

"Like when you duel, not only do you have to try and anticipate what your attacker will use but you also have to be able to block and cast simultaneously."

"That's part of it. But in a duel, it's one on one. In real attacks, you might be faced with two or more opponents. That's when you have to know how to duck and dodge spells as well." He looked at her and wondered why she was so worried about defending herself.

"Like when you are being attacked by Potter and Black," she stated, and then raised her eyebrows at his annoyed stare. "Whenever you're attacked, you always blame them, and you never say one without the other."

He smirked at her observation. "Because they usually are together. They're cowards, Hermione, and cowards have to have backup to feel brave." He sat up and looked at his watch. "Damn, I have to go. We can talk about defensive spells later, if you like?"

Hermione's mouth curved into a smile that didn't erase the troubled look in her eyes. "Yes, I'd like that very much."

He thought about her statement all the way to the hospital wing. She was right; they did always attack him together. Potter and Black had received a week's detention for attacking him in the forest, and they'd want to retaliate. If he was going to collect his fungus, he'd need someone to watch his back.

When he'd arrived for his scheduled appointment, Madam Pomfrey was amazed at Severus' improvement. He told her it was the bed rest, but he knew she wasn't buying it. He asked her about the experiment he was trying with the Pimple Unction. She was properly impressed, even saying that she'd be happy to help him test his batch. She walked him back to the stairs in the Entrance Hall that led to the dungeons, discussing his hypothesis about the potion.

"I'll have it ready by tonight," he promised her.

"Mr. Snape, while I appreciate your fine quality potions, I don't want you on your feet all day. You're supposed to be resting," she admonished him in a kindly tone.

"But, I can't lay around all day either! It still hurts when I do," he replied, careful to look admonished even if he didn't feel it. "I promised to take it easy, and I am."

She nodded and smiled. "I'll expect you after dinner."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, turning for the stairs.

Hermione was bottling his potions when he entered. "Thank you, but I was going to do that."

She simply smiled. "I'm nearly done."

He watched her a moment, amazed at how well they got on. She had been with him for three weeks so far, and he knew that their time was nearly up. While Hermione finished bottling the potions, Severus took the blue box from his pocket, careful to keep his back toward her. He removed the Time-Turner to examine the sand and was immediately disappointed. He quietly put it away, closed the box and tucked it back into his pocket, deep in thought. Hermione kept looking at him, but he was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice.

The problem was that the sand was sparkling, iridescent, and granular, but not as transparent as he'd hoped. Not quite the glittery white sand that it was last time... Damn. But, it's not the opalescent white sand it's supposed to be. He knew he was lying to himself; the Time-Turner was nearly ready for her to use. But, he wasn't ready for her to leave, even though it was time to let her go. From what his older self had said, he was supposed to have a month with her, and he wasn't going to cut her visit short. Besides, she had apparently heard that her stay would be a month, so what would a little deception matter anyway? What would it hurt to tell her it will be back to normal in a few days...a week? He turned to look at the space where her bed was and sighed. I'll just wait for a few more days. It's not like she won't go back to her time, just later.

"Severus, are you all right?" she asked, making him turn to look at her.

He smiled and reached for the ruined cauldron. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm going to go replace this. I'll be right back." On his way to the potions classroom to get another cauldron, he decided to see how much Hermione knew about defensive spells and show her some simple ones. Besides, she's more fun than Mulciber or Avery, even if she has to look like one of them.

That afternoon, Severus taught Hermione how to cast the Stunning Hex, checking her every so often to make sure she wasn't straining. He also taught her the Tripping Hex, Legg-locker, and Numbing Jinx. She was an apt pupil, and after several tries, she managed to do them all fairly well. She asked him to show her more defensive spells, so he quizzed her on what she knew, surprised that she was, literally, a year behind. "You're only now learning about Dark creatures?"

"Professor Quirrell taught us the fundamentals of curses, hexes, and jinxes, and how they varied from charms my first year," she replied.

"That's normal for first year," he replied, nodding, waving his hand to encourage her to continue.

"But in second year, Professor Lockhart mostly demonstrated how he fought dangerous beings and creatures... and well... he turned out to be a braggart who only took credit for what other people had done."

"Blimey," he said not sure what to think about her statement. "What about defensive spells?"

"I can use Immobilous, Babbling Curse, Tickling Charm, and the Body-Bind Curse. We learned about Jelly-Appendage curses, but we only read about them. I can do the Jelly-Legs, but I haven't had any luck with the Jelly-Fingers, and I can do an Ear-Ringing Hex," she said, holding her wand casually.

"What about Colloportus...to seal a door, or Impedimenta Curse, Impedimenta Jinx...to stop or slow an person or object, or averting spells like Defensoris or Averrunco?" Severus asked, listing some of the ones he'd learned in his early years of Defense, but Hermione only shook her head. "Infantiae tardus...to make your attacker speak and move slowly, like in slow motion?"

She shook her head again. "I was shown...well, Professor Lockhart demonstrated the Homorphous Charm, to turn a werewolf back into a human, on my friend Harry, and we were taught Expelliarmus, the disarming spell, in a dueling demonstration. And this year, Professor Lup...er," she stammered, then continued, "our current teacher is trying to catch us up on what we've missed from last year."

"You don't want to tell me his or her name. Why?" he asked, arms crossed as he looked down at her. She'd told him the names of her other professors, well, except her Potions professor, but he had a good idea who that was by now.

"Er, no," Hermione admitted, looking at her thumb.

"Why?" he persisted. He wracked his brain for anyone with a surname beginning with 'luper.'

She refused to look at him. "You don't like him, and yes, you know him...knew him. It's not a good idea. I really shouldn't," she said, clearly avoiding answering him.

So, I know him...not as in I will know him... I know him. Severus could only come up with two...no, three possibilities. "Just tell me it isn't Rene Lupperger or Marcus Luppertz or... Remus Lupin," he said, naming the only people he knew whose surname began with 'lup.'

"Okay, no," she said. "Show me how to..."

"No, tell me who first," he insisted stubbornly. "You said I know him."

"I also said that you don't like him very much," Hermione said with a set, determined look that said she was going to be stubborn about it. "Are you going to show me how to block unfriendly spells or not?"

I don't like him? Hmmm. Rene Lupperger had been a Gryffindor prefect and pain in the arse during Severus' first and second years. "Tell me it's not Rene Lupperger," Severus insisted. He knew that it couldn't be Luppertz. He remembered Luppertz from Lucius Malfoy's year: a pure-blood Hufflepuff, a bit of a ponce, but posh, a do-gooder, and not a sharp quill in Severus' opinion. He'd set McGonagall's animals free because he'd thought they were abused in Severus' second year. I'd never minded the bloke, actually, and certainly didn't dislike him. He and Malfoy are still friends, I believe...

"It's not Rene Lupperger," she said, crossing her arms with a huff.

There was only one other person he knew whose name began with 'lup.' "You mean to say it's Lupin?" he asked, stunned.

For a split second she gaped at him in disbelief and then shook her head. "No, I didn't say that either. So are you going to...?"

That's impossible. It's one thing to let that werewolf come to school... It took a moment for him to think. He is one of Dumbledore's favorite four.

"Are we going to duel?" she asked impatiently.

"Yeah, yeah. Go ahead. Try and hit me with a Body-Bind," he said, his mind still wheeling at the fact that the werewolf was teaching at Hogwarts. But, she did say that Dumbledore and McGonagall were still at Hogwarts in her time... Shite!

Hermione's Body-Bind caught him unawares. "Are you all right?! I thought you were ready?!" she exclaimed when she removed the hex.

"Well, I am now," he snapped, annoyed with himself for being distracted. He turned his focus on her, assuming a dueling stance. "Ready, go."

~ T. B. C. ~