Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Nothing you recognise belongs to me, I just play.

A/N1: Thank you, Janus, fellow Slytherin, for beta-reading!

A/N2: Again: this was written for the 2009 OWL cup as a drabble series.

Fairy Tales: 1. Severus Sleeps

Chapter 2

The next morning after breakfast, Hermione went back to Snape's room in the dungeons. Perhaps she would succeed waking him up.

After casting a Rennervate spell, she entered his his mind. "Legilimens!"

The Man Without a Heart, but With a Big Nose

Hermione found herself in a small cabin in a forest. A man lived in this cabin all alone, without wife or children, or even friends or pets to keep him company. The man had a very big nose, lank greasy hair, sallow skin and crooked teeth. He knew very well that people thought him ugly, and that's why he kept to himself most of the time.

One fine day, he looked out of the window and saw three Hogwarts students walk by his cabin.

"What are you doing in the middle of the Forbidden Forest?" Snape––that was the man––asked the three students.

"We are the Marauders," one of the three said. "We are going out into the world to find a bride for each or us because we are so bored. Besides, we would have to do all the housework by ourselves, otherwise. We've left one Marauder behind; he's holding the fort, but we've promised to bring him a bride, too.

"If you'll bring a bride for me as well, on your way back, you can stay overnight and find as much to eat and drink as you could wish for."

The three Marauders didn't need to be asked twice; they ate drank heartily, slept deeply and without a care, and met the lonely man again at breakfast.

"You can take as much rations with you as you wish," the man said. "Just bring me a woman to keep me company."

"We'll gladly do that," the Marauders promised. They thanked the man politely and went on their way.

Here is my chance, Hermione thought. She knew the story that had trapped Snape in his dreams this time. Perhaps I can manipulate the ending, she thought and waited until the Marauders returned before she quickly cast a Confundus Charm on them and then did some impressive Transfiguration work.

Instead of Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin, now Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Neville Longbottom were walking through the Forbidden Forest. Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood and Hannah Abbott were coming along as their brides. Hermione joined them as the extra bride.

When the party reached the cabin in the forest, the man with the big nose looked out of the window and greeted Hermione's friends.

"I see that you've brought a bride for me."

"Err, no," Harry stammered, looking confused. "She is meant for the one who stayed at home. Who was that again?" He scratched his head.

"What? You didn't bring one for me? You'll pay for this!" the man yelled and waved his wand. Immediately, Hermione's friends and their brides were Transfigured into large pebbles and kept lying at the door.

"You shall be my bride," Snape said to Hermione. "I'll go away now, but you can start cleaning up around here, and then you can cook me a meal."

"I'll do that," Hermione said affably.

When the man came back in the evening, everything was neat and clean, and the food stood on the table.

He praised Hermione, but she looked at him with sad eyes. "What am I supposed to do if you die, dear husband, and I'm left all alone in the forest? I'll have to die as well, then."

"Don't be afraid," Snape said. "I won't die so quickly. I always carry a bezoar, and I've swallowed antivenin against Nagini's poison. I'm neither clumsy nor unskilled. Even the Killing Curse won't affect me, because I don't have a heart. I've hidden it in a secret place where it can't be harmed. As long as it remains there, safely, nothing will threaten me."

The next morning, he went away again. Hermione made a pretty, warm blanket for him, just in case he had hidden his heart in his bed. His heart could do with a bit of love, she thought. Perhaps then he'd get over his stubborn insistence to stick firmly to his old childhood love.

When Snape came back in the evening and saw the beautiful blanket, he wondered and confronted Hermione with it.

"I thought I'd do something good for your heart by sewing a nice blanket for it," she explained. "A warm heart is happier than a cold one."

"Always the know-it-all," Snape grumbled. "What gives you the idea that my heart is hidden in my bed?" He frowned fiercely and went away.

When Hermione decorated the door with flowers the next day, intending to do something good for his heart again, he only rolled his eyes. "My heart isn't hidden there either, you inquisitive creature. Why are you so insistent on learning where it is?"

"If I'm supposed to be your wife, I ought to know where your heart is, dear husband. I need to take care of it, to protect it. Besides, I'd be lost here, all alone, if something should happen to you."

Snape sighed. It looked like Hermione would get what she wanted merely by being so insistent.

"If something should happen to me, you insufferable know-it-all, then you would merely take my wand and transfigure the stones back into people. The wand is hidden over the door. But nothing will happen to me; my heart is well-hidden."

"But where is it?" Hermione asked.

Snape rolled his eyes again and sniffed. "You never give up, do you?"

"Never!" Hermione confirmed and smiled.

"Very well. The heart is kept in a castle. The castle is surrounded by a moat. No one can swim across that moat, and no one can break through the walls of the castle. And finally, should anyone be able to enter the castle after all, he won't be able to take hold of my heart. It's hidden in a small bird which flies around all the time and can't be caught." Snape looked at her distrustfully. "Something isn't right with you. My bride shouldn't be so nosy."

In that moment, Hermione knew that she had lost her influence on the outcome of the dream. She suddenly found herself back in the role of an uninvolved observer. The young bride had changed. She now had red hair, green eyes and was very beautiful. She was Lily Evans.

Hermione knew what would come next. And when the man with the big nose had left his cabin the next morning, a young man appeared at the window who looked remarkably like Harry Potter. It was the fourth Marauder, James Potter, who had left his home to search for his friends. When James saw the pretty girl, he found that he liked her very much. He knocked at the door and asked her if she'd seen people passing by.

Lily didn't hesitate. She told James about his friends and revealed Snape's secrets. She provided him with ample food and drink, and the next day, James went away to catch the bird with the heart of the lonely man.

James was a carefree fellow, and thus he invited everyone and anyone in the vicinity who felt like it to share his meals.

First, a large ox ate with him, then a boar and finally a raptor. All three promised James to help him if he needed them.

Soon after, James arrived at the castle. The ox helped by drinking all the water from the moat, the boar ran against the castle's walls until they broke, and the raptor caught the little bird with the hidden heart.

James was very glad and went on his way back to the forest. When he arrived at the cabin, Lily hid him under the bed, because the man with the big nose was about to come home.

"What's the matter with you, dear husband?" Lily asked. "You look ill."

"I don't feel very well," Snape said. "Something must have happened to my heart in order for me to have become so sick."

Lily didn't comment on that and served him dinner.

James, who was still hiding under the bed, thought that Snape deserved to suffer a bit. He thought that Snape hadn't acted very nobly by cursing his friends with their brides and keeping the bride who was meant for James. That's why he pinched the captured bird just a bit.

The man with the big nose twitched and moaned.

James enjoyed seeing Snape suffer, and so he pinched the bird a bit more.

Snape fell from his chair and moved no more.

James discovered that he had accidentally pinched the little bird to death. The man with the big nose was dead now, and even a Mandrake Restorative Draught wouldn't be able to bring him back to life. James and Lily lifted the curse from their friends; everyone was happy, and they all went home together.

Hermione looked down at the dead man with great sorrow. She kissed his pale lips and left his dreams, crying. Completely exhausted, she fainted.

"I didn't have the impression that I'd been very successful. The tale took its course despite my efforts at changing its outcome. In the end, Snape was still trapped in his web and wanted to die." She wiped a few stray tears away. "I am so very tired and I feel cold. I need some rest, but tomorrow I'll try once again."

Poppy nodded, covered Hermione with a thick handcrafted blanket, and went away.

Early next morning, Hermione was at Snape's side again. She was still so tired that she could hardly stand upright, but she refused Poppy's suggestion to take a longer break.

"I just have to try this now, Poppy," she said and looked at her colleague sadly. "The poor man is trapped in his dreams and he is suffering a great deal. I won't give up before he wakes up."

"Better be careful lest you are forced to give up, Hermione. You wouldn't be the first Healer who broke down on the job because she thought that she was invincible and knew her own body best. When you're ill or dead, you won't be of any use to your patient, you know."

"You're right, Poppy, and if I can't make a difference this time, I'll take a longer break. But this once, I must try again. I don't feel that bad, don't worry."