Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Let go of me! What did you do?" Hermione cried as she struggled to escape Severus' grasp.

He blinked and looked around him. "I... I don't know." He released her, and she turned and walked to the edge of the painting. She attempted to walk through it and back to her own reality, but she just bumped against the wall of the canvas.

Turning again, she looked at him with a bit of fear in her eyes. "What did you do?" she reiterated.

"I swear, Granger, I don't know." He moved over to her and tried to push through the canvas with his hand. Nothing out of the ordinary happened; his hand bounced off the invisible wall that made up the canvas barrier.

"I was furious with you; so furious that I wanted to shake you to knock some sense into you. I reached out and grabbed you, but now I can't reach out. What the devil is going on?"

"Well, put me back!" she retorted.

Severus spun around. "You i... mmph. Didn't you see me try to reach out of the frame? I can't. I don't know how I did it, but now I can't reach out into the hallway."

Hermione turned and ran at the canvas. She bounced back off it, landing directly in Severus' arms. He looked down at her with an amused expression on his face.

"Do you always run headfirst into everything?" he asked her.

She huffed at him and removed herself from his grasp. She looked from the edge of the canvas to Severus. Closing her eyes, she took a few breaths. He watched her for a moment until she looked into his eyes.

"All right, I'm calm now," she explained. "There's got to be a way out of here, right? Maybe you have to be holding me, then you can put me back."

Severus studied her for a moment. "All right. I'll try that."

Grasping her robes, he pushed her away from him forcefully. She slammed into the canvas, her face smashing up against it unflatteringly. He pushed harder, and she gave a high pitched yelp in protest. He dropped his hands from her and folded them across his chest.

"Merlin, you didn't have to break my nose!" she grumbled as she rubbed the aching appendage.

"You wanted me to push you..."

"I wanted you to do it logically. Obviously I wasn't going through, why did you continue to push?"

"It's probably because I'm just a child and don't understand the workings of giving you a subtle push."

Hermione quieted and stared at him for a minute. She finally looked away.

"I'm sorry. You're obviously not a child. However, I wish you would just stop being so nasty to me. It's fine if you don't like me. I'm not asking you to, but please be civil!"

Severus stared at her, his eyes boring into hers. "It would be easier to be civil if I wasn't being forced by some hex to be polite."

Hermione frowned and removed her wand. She looked down at it. "At least I still have this. Maybe it can help us." She swished and flicked before a purple light shot into Severus' chest. "There... I've lifted the hex." Her mouth formed a frown. "I'm sorry about that too. I suppose I should learn to live with you the way you are."

"Stupid, know-it-all pest."

Hermione's eyes narrowed, and she frowned even harder.

"I was just testing out my new found freedom," Severus explained. "I will force myself to behave in the future, no matter what foolish thing comes out of your mouth."

Hermione sighed and shook her head. "You're incorrigible."

"I pride myself in being so."

Her eyes met his. He let her see the mirth that was there. He saw her resolve crack and before he could blink, she was laughing.

"You have a strange sense of humor, Severus Snape," she coughed out between laughs.

He arched an eyebrow at her. "You are the one laughing, not I."

She rolled her eyes. "Incorrigible."

"Yes, that's all well and good, but it doesn't solve our problem."

Hermione sobered. She looked down at her wand. "Maybe a simple Apparition?"

He nodded in agreement.

She turned on the spot. Severus heard a sharp crack as she disappeared... only to reappear on the other side of the pond.

"Dang it!" He heard her from the distance. She tried it again, this time landing by his willow tree. A third try landed her in the middle of the pond. She lost her balance and fell backwards, making a horrible splash that sent the swans flying off hurriedly. Severus couldn't help himself; he burst out laughing.

The pond wasn't very deep, and Hermione, once she'd emerged, was only half buried in the water. She spit sharply, getting the pond water out of her mouth, and shook her head. Her mass of curls had now been flattened almost straight with the weight of the water. Taking her hands, she cleared her wet locks out of her eyes.

"Your hair is lovely, my lady," Severus quipped.

Hermione glared at him.

"Come on, you have to admit, you look a sight," he said between chuckles.

She looked down, spreading her hands away from her. Her eyes met his, and he saw an attractive flush of pink on her face. Before he knew it, Hermione Granger, straight-laced swot, was laughing hysterically. He'd have never taken her for one to guffaw like that, especially when the joke was on her. Evidently she wasn't the only one who needed to learn more about the other.

Ambling up to the pond, he extended his hand. "Here, let me help you."

She waddled along to the edge of the pond, reached out, and took his hand. Before he could react, a sinister grin covered her face, and she yanked him hard. He careened into the pond, landing face first in the water. Sputtering, he turned and got his feet planted firmly under him. His glower made her smile disappear.

"Oh, you will pay for that!" he snapped. Grabbing her robes, he pulled her to him. She struggled furiously, causing both of them to sink under the water. When Severus surfaced again, Hermione was once again sputtering and coughing. His smile disappeared as he slammed his hand against her back, trying to get the water from her lungs.

"What are you trying to do, kill me?" she sputtered.

He made sure she was fully recovered before answering. "I was just trying to tame that mane you call hair. It was beginning to dry, and I was afraid it was going to strangle me."

She punched him in the chest then. "Incorrigible!" she cried. Her fists slammed into him some more. "First you insult my teeth, now my hair. Is there anything else about me that you think is ugly?"

He stilled her flailing fists. "I have never said any part of you is ugly."

She relaxed as her eyes met his. He found them to be quite appealing. He didn't have a chance to ponder that, though, because she pulled out of his grasp. Moving away from him, she motioned for him to follow.

"Enough playing around. I have things to do. We need to figure out how I can get out of here."

He frowned as he pulled himself from the pond. "What if there's nothing we can do? What if you're stuck here?"

She shook her head as she pulled her wand out and dried their sopping clothes. "That's impossible. You pulled me in, there's got to be a way to put me back. We just need to find it. I wish we had access to the library."

"Oh, we do. There's that painting of the library in the library."

Hermione nodded slowly. "Oh, that's right. I forgot about that. I also forgot you can travel from picture to picture." Her head snapped up. "Do you think I could, too?"

He shrugged. "I don't see why not."

"How do you do it?"

His lips thinned. "I'm not sure. I just do it. It comes naturally, like breathing."

"That's really not helping me."

He extended his hand. "Here, take my hand. I will guide you."

Her lips thinned as she thought it over. Finally she gave a crisp nod and extended her hand. Before she grasped his, her eyes shone mischievously.

"You aren't going to fling me into the pond, are you?" she asked in a brazen voice.

"Madam, you wound me," he said with his hand on his chest in a display of sincerity.

She shook her head before grasping his hand. "Incorrigible."

In an instant, they were gone.

A/N: Now how will they get themselves out of this mess? thanks to slytherinlaurel for the magnificent beta work.