Chapter 3

This story becomes very adult in upcoming chapters. Minors, please do not read.

Hermione woke the next morning and stretched. Her hand encountered a stinging coldness, and she screamed. She heard a grunt next to her.

"Severus, are you in this bed?" She moved away, jumping from the bed.

"Sorry, it seems I am." He hauled himself off the bed. "I have no memory of anything once you fell asleep." Then he said, "Would you mind putting on your robe? It's not that I mind the view, but I assume you'd find your state of undress alarming."

Hermione had been embarrassed about his dressing gown and had put one of her own nightgowns on. It had no sleeves and stopped above her knee. It was soft cotton but not thick. She snatched her matching robe off the bed and slipped into it aware that her nipples had hardened at the thought of him looking at her.

Severus grinned. The glimpses of her hardened nipples had been an amazing sight. A snicker escaped his lips, and Hermione glared in his direction.

"Keep your eyes to yourself, Severus. I won't have you gaping at me like a school boy!"

"Well, I really have little choice." He stepped closer and whispered in her ear. "You are beautiful, Hermione."

Hermione felt shivers go up her spine, and it wasn't just the coldness he brought with him; it was his soft, sexy voice. She moved away, shivering, and dismissed his compliment for the moment. But it warmed her that someone thought she was beautiful. She'd received few compliments because most men could not deal with her bookishness.

She cleared her throat and changed the subject abruptly. "We really have to figure out how to make you somewhat visible so I can at least tell where you are. Can you pick anything up?" she asked, trying to distract him from the blush that rose in her cheeks.

Severus smiled and turned away. He went to the bookshelf, reached out to take a book, and found there was something blocking his fingers from touching anything, like a force field.

"No, I can't pick anything up. If I'm not a ghost, which seems unlikely since I can't pass my hand through things, what am I? There's an invisible wall surrounding things. I'm in some sort of stasis, I think. I don't get hungry, and I don't need water or food. It has to be a stasis spell."

"Stasis... Severus, how is that possible? I've never heard of a spell like that. We use stasis to preserve food, stop things from aging..." Her voice trailed off. "Do you think you've stopped aging?"

"There's no way to tell since I can't see myself." The idea that he and Hermione's ages would be closer now was a comfort.

She sighed. "Let me get dressed, and we can talk more." She turned away and went to the bathroom.

Severus found that since she had laid his wand on a table, he did not find himself pressed against the bathroom wall. He moved around the 15 or so feet he was allowed and looked longingly at his things.

There was a quill that McGonagall had given him one Christmas. There was a small world globe that Albus had presented him one year. There was a small, wooden horse Lily had given him; well, he had swiped it from her. They had been about eight years old then. She'd had a wonderful set of barn animals, and he'd had few toys in his life. He offered to carry them once and accidentally dropped them near a small grate on the street they lived on. He'd picked the horse up and slipped it into his pocket as he'd gathered up the other animals. He had told her it must have fallen through the grate into the sewer system.

He had few mementoes of his life, and he wished now he could put the little horse away. He didn't want to explain it to Hermione, and he found its attachment to his former life something that might disturb her. In the short time he'd been close to her, he'd found that he wanted to leave his past in the past. He felt tightness in his nonexistent head, and he reached out to grab at the little horse and saw it move. "What the hell?" he said softly, glancing at the bathroom door and then back at the little horse. He closed his eyes and imagined the little horse sliding off the edge of the dresser and onto the floor. His head began to ache, and he heard a clatter. His eyes flew open, and he saw the little horse lying on the floor. He pressed his hands against the sides of his head. Blinding pain lanced through his temples, and he saw the little horse slide under the dresser and vanish from sight. He felt like his head would explode. He fell to his knees, and then everything went dark.

Hermione came from the bathroom dressed but rubbing her damp hair with a towel. "Severus, where are you?" she called.

Silence met her, and she called again, "Damn it, don't play games with me!"

She looked around in panic, but then she saw the wand on the bedside table. She moved forward with her hands out, seeking the coldness that surrounded him.

"I am not amused by this game," she told him, and then her foot encountered coldness. She realized he was lying on the floor when she ran her hand over the edge of the coldness.

"Severus!"

Forgetting the freezing effect for a moment, she plunged her hand into the coldness and felt a form, a hip to be exact. It took only a fraction of a second for the pain to register, and she snatched her hand back. Her fingers were blue from the cold, and bits of blackened skin were forming around her fingernails as she ran to the bathroom to run tap water on them. She could see the frostbite. She pulled the tiny potions bag out of the bathroom cabinet and found a potion that would treat the frostbite. She swallowed it and called to him again, "Severus, can you hear me?" She stopped several feet away from the area she had discovered him. She sat on the floor. What could have happened? How could she help him? "Severus!" she called, her voice elevating.

A low groan sounded close to her, and her fingers itched to touch him.

"My head," he groaned.

"Severus, what happened?" she repeated, relieved that he was conscious.

"I tried to move something, and it moved, but it gave me a blinding headache. I blacked out."

"Are you okay?" She felt the coldness move up beside her, and she realized he was sitting up close to her. She was cradling her healing fingers against her.

"What happened to you?" he asked, leaning closer.

Hermione felt the stinging cold and scooted away. "No, don't touch me. I nearly froze my fingers off touching you earlier."

Severus stared at her. "You touched me? I have a body?"

Hermione realized that she had encountered his body. "Yes, you do, Severus, you have a body!" She got to her feet and wrapped her arms about herself. Her face crumbled because she couldn't touch him, and she cried.

"Did you take something for the damage?" he asked with concern.

She nodded.

"Hermione," he said softly next to her, "please go lie down for a bit. Let the potion do its work." He was grateful he was invisible because tears swam in his own eyes. He ached to hold her, too. How had he formed such feelings and dependency on this woman in such a short time?

She nodded and went to the bed and climbed in.

He stood at the end of the bed, wishing he could crawl in with her and hold her against him.

"Severus?" she called to him. "How is your head?"

"It's better." He came close and knelt on the floor in front her. "You?"

She scrubbed at her tears. "I'm sorry. Severus, I feel things for you. In my head over the years as I studied Potions and became a master, I wanted your blessing and wanted you to be proud of me. You were part of a fantasy in my head: we working side by side, we being recognized as a Potions duo known around the world. It was all silly, schoolgirl stuff. You became real to me, and now I find you're still among us, and I can't even see you. I can't look into your eyes or see that terrible smirk you're so known for. You hurt, and I can't help you."

"Hermione, you've only just discovered me. You are a brilliant woman. Coming back here is emotionally charged for you, and it's exhausting you. Now you have to deal with me, the invisible man." He actually laughed and saw Hermione's look of shock.

"Please sleep. It's Sunday, and you start your classes tomorrow. I'm not going anywhere. I've been floating around for years. We have time to work out whatever this is. As long as I don't try to move anything again, I'll be fine. I have someone who knows I'm here. That means a great deal to me, Hermione."

She yawned; the potion was making her sleepy. She smiled in his direction. "I will take a nap, and when I wake we can sit and talk."

He said, "I would like that." He walked around the bed and slid on to it, keeping as far from her as he could. He felt his vision begin to fade as she slipped into sleep.

****

Severus became aware and could see by the light coming in the small window that it was late afternoon. He sat up on the edge of the bed. He twisted around in time to see Hermione still lying down but running her hands through her hair, trying to smooth the wild mass down. Why had he ever thought her bushy hair unattractive? It was a beautiful, coppery auburn, and the mass of curls had light and life to them.

"Severus, are you on the bed again?" she whispered.

"I'm sitting on the edge," he said. "How's your hand?"

"It's as good as new." She turned toward him. "Would you lie down and face me; we can talk."

If Hermione could have seen the astonished, touched look on his face, she would have smiled.

Severus crawled back into the bed and lay as far from her as he could; he did not want to injure her again. He was pleased when she reached out and felt the edge of his shield and moved a bit closer. She lay on her side with her arm under a pillow pulled tightly into the cleft of her shoulder to prop her head up. Her eyes searched the emptiness before her.

"Severus, I thought you had died when Harry, Ron, and I left the Shrieking Shack. What happened? Do you remember anything?"

Severus let his mind wander back to that day. "I felt the blinding pain of Nagini's fangs and the warmth of my blood flowing down my neck. I remember Voldemort's laugh and then his fading footsteps. Then the three of you came into view, and it took nearly all my strength to pull the memories out and give them to Harry. Then you went away, and I found I could still move a bit. I managed to pull the vials of anti-venom from my pocket with my wand. I took the anti-venom, then some blood replenisher, and a potion for pain mixed with a healing potion."

As he spoke, his eyes drank in each tiny detail of her face. Her soft skin was still glowing with youth. She had a slightly upturned nose, and thick lashes that lay against her check when she blinked. His eyes seemed to be locked on her soft, pink lips. He wondered what it might be like to kiss those lips.

Hermione's eyes widened, and her hand flew up to her lips. "Hey, what was that?"

Severus ducked away in embarrassment and then settled back when he remembered she couldn't see him or feel him moving on the bed. Had he somehow touched her? Had his thoughts pushed at her lips as he thought of kissing her?

"What? What was what?" he asked innocently.

Hermione shook her head and closed her eyes. He would think she was a silly girl for fantasizing about him if she told him she'd just felt kissed. "Nothing, sorry, go on."

Severus felt the tightness in his head; yes he must have exhibited some of that power again. It wasn't so bad this time. She'd felt him touch her and hadn't complained about cold. Now that was interesting. He filed it away to think on it later.

He continued, "I felt a bit stronger, and then I tried to move. I lost control of my wand. It fell, and the last thing I remember was feeling it hit my other arm. There was a blinding flash, and then I woke when you and McGonagall were crying over me."

She propped herself up on her elbow. "I wonder what that blinding flash was. Have you ever heard of any spell from a wand backfiring on the wielder when dropped?"

Severus shook his head and then remembered she couldn't see him and said, "No."

"What about it hitting your arm? Maybe it rolled across the Dark Mark, and that created some sort of curse."

"It's possible a curse was placed on us Death Eaters by Voldemort. Maybe he cursed my wand and I didn't even notice. I was, after all, dying," he theorized.

He saw Hermione's hand reach out to touch him, and then she drew it back and a frown appeared on her forehead, marring her beautiful face. She turned over and rolled up to a sitting position with her feet off the bed, and slid to her feet. Without a word she vanished into the bathroom.

He stood and paced the room until she came out. "Hermione, please go have some dinner with the staff. Leave my wand here, and I will be fine."

She nodded, needing time to think. "I won't be too long." She gave him a brave smile, but he could see fear. Was she afraid he wouldn't be here when she got back, or was she afraid he would be?

Hermione left the rooms and warded them. She didn't want anyone to enter without her presence. She felt bad leaving him there. He could not even read a book. What would he do by himself? As she made her way through the dungeon classroom, she thought of the touch on her lips. It had been warm. It had felt like real lips. Maybe she was going nuts. She resolved to go see Madam Pomfrey when dinner was done. She wanted the witch to do a brain spell on her to see if everything was working okay. She had to know if Severus was real or only in her mind. Coming back to Hogwarts had been so wonderful, and yet so much harder than she had expected. Discovering Severus trapped all these years and somehow linked to her was fantastic and scary at the same time. If he were really here, she would devote the rest of her life trying to free him from his prison. She couldn't stop the panic she felt for him. How could he stand this? He was trapped like a fly in a bottle. Right now he was grateful for her company. What would he feel like in a few months tethered to his wand and unable to even pursue his love of Potion making?

She chose the seat by Hagrid and realized that would probably be her seat from now on.

"Hermione," the half-giant greeted her. "Whatcha been doin' all day? You missed breakfast."

"I'm sorry. I had a headache and needed to rest," she explained, feeling a bit bad for fudging the truth.

"Just jitters, bein' your first teachin' day's tomorrow," he said stabbing his fork into a huge piece of meat. He stuffed it in his equally huge mouth and chewed twice, swallowed and repeated the process. The food on his plate would have fed her for a whole week. "Hey, you still hear the old bat whisperin' down there?"

Hermione shook her head. "No," she lied. After all, he wasn't whispering anymore.

"Good, old ghost of the past I imagine," he grinned, stuffing another huge bite into his mouth. He picked a goblet, over two liters in size, and gulped half of it down.

She smiled fondly at him and set about eating her dinner. She realized she was starving, and by the end of the meal, she did feel better. Talking with Hagrid about Ron and Harry brought back some wonderful memories and made her feel closer to them.

After dinner, she went quickly to the infirmary. She walked in; the room hadn't changed at all. "Madam Pomfrey, are you here?" she called into the huge room. Thankfully, it wasn't occupied by any students.

A door opened at the other end, and the small woman came from her quarters. Her face lit with pleasure. "Madam Granger, it's good to see you."

"Hermione, please, we are colleagues now," she told the Healer. She looked almost the same. A few deeper laugh lines fanned out by her eyes, and there were more grey hairs now than her original golden blonde.

"Well, then call me Poppy. All the staff does."

Hermione nodded, suddenly nervous about coming here. Will the woman think me mad? What could she say without alarming the Healer? She came to the conclusion there was nothing to do but tell her the truth.

Poppy watched her face and saw the fear in the young woman's eyes. "What can I do for you, Hermione?"

Hermione wrung her hands together and walked away from the woman, studying the beds in the room. "I have your word that you'll be discreet, don't I Poppy?"

"Of course." She frowned.

"I mean no disrespect. I just needed to be reassured." She took a deep breath. "I'd like you do a brain spell on me."

The older woman was alarmed. "Why?" She gestured and said, "Come, sit down here on the chair."

"I want you to scan for a tumor." She was embarrassed. "I'm hearing someone who's supposed to be dead. I seem to have picked up a ghost of sorts. I know this sounds crazy. He's invisible, trapped in a stasis spell of some sort. I really think he's there, but I want to rule out brain illusions."

"Can you tell me who you think is trapped?" the Healer asked as she drew her wand from her sleeve and prepared to begin her work.

Hermione sat straight in the chair; her body was taut and slightly trembling. She realized she was more afraid of finding out Severus was in her mind than having him really there. Part of her knew he really was there. After all, she'd nearly frozen her fingers today; but she still needed to know for sure. She knew he was there... but maybe she needed to share that information with someone who could not tell anyone else...someone she might be able to work with so that it wouldn't be all on her shoulders.

She realized the woman was still waiting for an answer. "Severus Snape," she whispered.

Lisa, my beta, thank you so much for your hard work.

Becky, thank you for your support.