Chapter 11

Chapter 11

At their next meeting, ostensibly for tea and planning, Severus discovered his otherwise flawless plan presented one minor problem: it was quite likely to drive him round the bend in short order. It seemed Hermione wasn't just excited about their research – she was obsessed with it.

He had no idea where she had found the time to obtain or prepare them, but she had appeared at their very first meeting with three charmed scheduling parchments. She quickly demonstrated the proper incantation on the first one, and her schedule appeared on it, fully colour-coded and indexed and covering the two-and-a-half months remaining in the term.

She said, "I'd have done yours ahead of time, but it has to be done personally by the individual whose schedule it's to be." She waited while he mimicked the spell she had done, then took both parchments and cast a different series of spells over them, creating a common calendar.

It was the work of seconds to determine that their best bet was to meet after dinner on weekdays, and for tea on weekends. Severus frowned when he realised her schedule precluded after-dinner meetings on weekends. What was she doing with her Saturday nights? He hadn't heard of her dating anyone. Not that he cared, of course, but wasn't he supposed to know where his staff were at all times?

He forced his attention back to what she was doing now, as with a few taps of her wand, she filled in their appointments with each other on the common calendar; they immediately appeared in green on each of the individual schedules.

"Now, if something comes up and you need to cancel a meeting, all you have to do it tap your wand like this, and my calendar will show the cancelation," Hermione explained before adding, as though he might be concerned, "And don't worry, they've all been spelled against damage from the usual hazards – spills, fires, that sort of thing."

Severus, who was still trying to see if she had some bloke pencilled in for Saturday nights, nevertheless nodded. He wouldn't be cancelling any of their appointments, anyway, he reasoned, so it mattered little if he hadn't quite caught the spell to do so. He could always owl her cancelations, or ask her to show him again later. Besides, short of the Dark Lord's second – well, third – coming, nothing was more important than having as much time as possible working Hermione around to rescinding her notice. Or so Lucius assured him most insistently.

She pulled out a fourth parchment and quickly copied the common schedule. Putting away her schedule and one of the common ones, she handed him the other along with his individual one before pulling a stack of journals from her latest beaded bag. She had had a number of such bags over the years, or maybe she was transfiguring the same one to suit changing fashion, Severus thought. He again forced himself to pay attention as she began showing him everything she had already managed to learn in less than twenty-four hours.

Mentally shaking his head, he wondered if he was in over his head. Then he thought wryly that if she finished the entire research project in the first week, he would need to find another way to keep her at his side and available to be charmed for the rest of the term.

Two weeks into their research, Hermione finally began to lose her determination to keep her guard up. After their first meeting, she had always seemed to arrive intent upon keeping things distant and professional between them. Fortunately, Severus had quickly discovered that if he ignored the awkward silences and engaged her in a discussion of their progress, her enthusiasm and excitement would soon override her best intentions. Only once had he tried telling her outright to "just relax"; she had taken that as criticism and grown even more distant than when she arrived. Nothing got her to let down her guard until finally, he had pretended not to understand an Arithmantic concept she mentioned. Halfway through her (very thorough) explanation, she was back to being so delighted with her topic that she forgot to keep her distance.

After that, he made a point of asking her a question related to their project the moment she arrived, resulting in more immediate relaxing of her guard. He was elated on the day she arrived with her walls already down, though, of course, Hermione would not have been able to tell as his expression gave nothing away.

"Hi, Severus," she said, smiling warmly. "How's it coming today?"

"Very well, I think. I believe I've discovered the combination of spells he must have used on Nagini."

"Really?" Her entire being seemed to light up. "That's wonderful! May I see?"

Severus had to mentally prod himself to respond appropriately. "Yes, of course. Look here."

By four weeks in, they had tested several theories of the magic involved in the venom modification on a few snakes Hagrid had provided once he felt sufficiently assured they wouldn't be harmed in the course of the research. The first few didn't work – they either had no effect, or they reduced the potency of the venom (a useful discovery in itself, they agreed, and Hermione set about putting it together for publication even while they continued working on their original project).

Severus had by now concluded she couldn't possibly be dating anyone – she was still keeping up with her teaching duties with nary a hiccup, even as she seemed to work increasingly long hours on the research. Eventually, he noticed she was skipping meals and losing weight as dark shadows became more and more pronounced beneath her eyes. When she arrived at teatime that Saturday, he forestalled her usual greeting. "When was the last time you slept?"

She looked at him oddly. "Last night. Why?"

"Let me rephrase that. How many hours are you sleeping each night, on average?" he asked sternly.

"I don't know. Four or five?" she answered, though she shifted somewhat uncomfortably from one foot to the other. Lucius was right, Gryffindors, and particularly this Gryffindor, couldn't lie well at all.

"I highly doubt that. When was your last proper meal?"

"I had an apple earlier."

"I asked about a proper meal. An apple does not qualify."

"What is all this, Severus? I'm perfectly fine," she snapped, which caught him off guard; he'd never thought she would speak to someone with authority over her in such a manner. "Now, let's get to work." She reached into her bag and pulled out a stack of parchment.

Taking it from her, he set it aside. "Hermione, have you even looked at yourself recently? You didn't look this ill after nearly a year of camping with your idiot friends during the war." She looked hurt, so he hastily added, "Look, I don't mean to insult you. I'm ... worried about you." He was only a little bit surprised to find it was true, and not as difficult to admit as he might have expected. "You're not eating or sleeping properly. Just how long do you think you can keep this pace up?"

Her expression softened, but she demurred, "I'm fine, Severus, really. You don't need to worry."

"When was the last time you took a day off? Had some fun?"

"I don't know ... not that long ago. Besides, this is fun." She gestured toward the stack of parchment, adding, "I don't need time away from it."

"When was the last time you saw the Potters? Or the Weasleys?" She looked away without answering. "Have you been outside in the past week?" Her mulish expression answered that question. He sighed. "Woman, you need a keeper. When you let yourself get this run down, you make mistakes or wind up too ill to work at all. Come with me." Looking at him uncertainly, she made to pick up her bag. "Leave the bag there," he ordered. "We're taking the rest of the day off."

"But you have to see what I –"

"It will still be there tomorrow. You can show me then. And just to make sure you aren't tempted ..." He quickly Levitated the bag and the notes into his bottom desk drawer and executed a complicated series of wards. Then he called, "Winky?"

With a loud crack the small elf appeared in front of them. Bowing low, she asked, "Yes, Headmaster? What is Headmaster needing?"

"Please organise a picnic basket for us and have it delivered us by the lake. You know what Professor Granger's favourite foods are?"

"Severus, this is not necessary."

Glaring at Hermione, Severus was pleased when Winky ignored her and answered his question. "Oh, yes, Headmaster. Winky is knowing all the Professors' favourites. Winky is a good elf."

"Excellent. Include two servings of each of her five favourite foods, along with whatever else it takes to round out the nutrition."

"Yes, Headmaster. I is bringing Professor Granger's favourite foods to the lake."

"But Severus –"

"Let's go," he interrupted. Grasping Hermione gently, but firmly, by the elbow, he began pulling her toward the door, ignoring her continued protests.

Two hours later, Severus sat quietly on a picnic blanket beside Hermione, who was curled up on her side, sound asleep. He found himself looking at her with an odd mixture of fondness and exasperation (thank Merlin no one was around to see it!). Once presented with a surfeit of food and fresh air, she had succumbed to her exhaustion quickly enough. Turning his attention to the remnants of their picnic, he was amused to see that Winky had taken him quite literally. The basket had contained Hermione's five favourite foods, all right, and who knew the daughter of a pair of muggle dentists secretly craved Turkish delight, toffee, and cheesecake along with her chocolate mousse and caramel-fudge biscuits? He was glad he had thought to ask Winky to round out the nutrition; otherwise, Hermione would probably be in a sugar-induced coma by now. Instead, he had insisted she sample the thick roast beef sandwiches, salads, and strawberries with clotted cream Winky had also included.

He had, begrudgingly, gained a whole new respect for Potter and Weasley today, since he could only assume it was through their intervention she hadn't worked herself into a nervous breakdown or an early grave while studying for her NEWTs. He hadn't been kidding when he told her she needed a keeper. What surprised (and, if he were completely honest, troubled) him more than anything, though, was his distinct lack of aversion to taking on the job himself.

As that thought occurred to him, he mentally groaned. In a few short weeks, he had gone from hating all three of them to almost respecting the two boys, and actually liking Hermione. Damn Lucius.

She stirred beside him, and he schooled his features into a pleasant expression. Her eyes opened slightly and she murmured, "Severus?"

"Yes, Hermione?"

But she just smiled sweetly as her eyes slid closed; soon enough, she was once again deeply asleep. Severus returned to his earlier thoughts. His whole plan was at risk of getting sidetracked. He was supposed to persuade the girl to stay at Hogwarts as a means to an end – his continued employment, hopefully with a pay rise. He was not supposed to actually like her. He could just imagine Lucius gloating if that got out.

An hour later, he was still sitting there and she was still sleeping, although it was growing quite dark. He had already cast Lumos, then changed his mind and summoned Winky to bring candles and clear away the remnants of their picnic. Now he was debating whether to wake Hermione to get her moving back toward the castle. Scotland still got chilly at night, and with the amount of sleep she had skipped in the past few weeks, Hermione could very easily sleep through until morning. Upon further consideration, he cast a warming charm over her just to be safe.

At least he had the necessary peace to analyse his situation with Hermione. He eventually concluded it was all right to like her. It wasn't anything more than that, after all. As long as they kept things light and uncomplicated, a friendship of sorts would be acceptable. It didn't mean anything more than that.

Sighing, he called Winky once more. Keeping his voice low, he asked, "Winky, would you please Apparate Professor Granger to her quarters and put her to bed? Try not to wake her, please."

"Yes, Headmaster. Winky will not be waking Professor Granger."

"Thank you, Winky." When the elf had disappeared with her charge, Severus gathered the blanket and began a leisurely walk up to the castle. If he felt oddly wistful now he was alone, he refused to worry over it – at least there was no one to notice.

By the time the sixth week had passed, Severus had developed a whole new set of rules for Hermione. Honestly, how a woman who couldn't manage to remember basic self-care activities like sleeping and eating could be so effective at everything else was quite beyond him. Unfortunately, he was the only one in a position to make her remember and to actually do something about it. Most of the other professors had tried at one time or another, but none of them had any leverage, so when she waved them off with barely a glance, saying, "You go on ahead. I'll be there shortly," they did. And if she never quite managed to follow, there wasn't much they could do about it.

He, on the other hand, wasn't opposed to telling her he'd stop the research altogether if she didn't put down what she was doing and come now. She would grumble and sometimes even whine about his insistence, but she did as he asked, too afraid he would follow through on his threat to risk refusing. Now that he was making a point of stopping by to fetch her from her office on his way to meals as well as before retiring for the night, and walking her to the Great Hall or her quarters (whichever was appropriate), she was starting to look healthy again.

Of course, they had now reached a stage in their research where nothing seemed to be going according to plan. They both knew this was typical of complex research, but they frequently had different ideas about how to progress, as well as about why things weren't working.

"Are you sure you calculated that equation correctly?" Severus asked grumpily after the potion had exploded for the fourth time in as many days.

"Yes, of course I'm sure. I checked it three times."

"It has to be wrong, though. There's no way to combine the habaneros with the aconite without generating too much heat to be contained once the spell is cast."

"Well, maybe you're casting the spell wrong," Hermione dared to say.

"I'm not casting the spell wrong," he replied, through gritted teeth.

"Then maybe you measured the ingredients inaccurately."

"You watched me do it this time! We agreed it was right!" he insisted indignantly.

"Well, all I know is the equations balance. There must be something else."

Frustrated, Severus said, "Bollocks. Anyway, sniping at each other isn't going to help us find it, is it?"

Hermione glared at him for a moment before she unexpectedly burst out laughing.

"I don't see what's so funny about it." Hermione laughed harder. "Really, can we have some decorum around here?"

She kept laughing. He decided to ignore her and clear away the mess. It was too late to start again tonight, anyway.

When she finally got herself under control, the lab space was once more pristine. He said, "If you're finished with your little outburst, I shall escort you to your quarters."

Hermione grinned, unrepentant. "Oh, Severus, don't be mad. It just suddenly struck me as funny that you, of all people, should complain about people sniping at each other. You are, after all, the past king of the verbal Avada."

Severus frowned. He didn't like the implication that he was going... soft. "What do you mean, past king? I'll have you know I can still trade barbs with the best of them. Just because I choose not to let loose on you doesn't mean I couldn't if I wanted to."

Hermione patted his hand consolingly. "Well, don't worry. I'm sure you could still set Neville quaking if you really tried. It'll be our little secret that you're a kinder, gentler Severus now."

"I am not kinder or gentler. I'm ... more judicious."

"Really, Severus, it's not an insult. I actually quite like you this way, sniping and all." They had reached her door by now, and she gave the password before turning back to smile at him. "Sleep well, Severus." Unexpectedly, she stretched up and pecked his cheek. "See you tomorrow."

Severus frowned at the closed door for a long moment before heading back to his own quarters.

What was she about, kissing his cheek and telling him she liked him?