Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter or the associated characters and world. Time spent writing, enjoyment and reviews in return, not money.

Thanks as per usual to LadySunflower for betaing and to my reviewers.

Chapter 8

Severus was still smirking to himself as he made his way up to the hospital wing to collect Hermione. It had been worth another late night to see Potter struggle through his detention. Even by his own standards, it had been a particularly cruel and unusual punishment.

The harvesting of acromantula silk required something to distract the giant spiders. He'd used Potter as bait, leaving the boy dangling from a web at the edge of Aragog's territory, drawing the majority of the creatures to the sounds of the struggling body. Severus had neglected to tell Potter that he'd slipped a protective amulet around the brat's scrawny neck until after they had returned to the castle from the Forbidden Forest. If one of Aragog's children had gotten close enough, it would have been forcefully repelled, allowing no harm to come to the precious Boy-Who-Lived-To-Be-Bait.

He paused outside the door to wipe the smirk from his face, as it wouldn't do to let Hermione know what had amused him. No doubt that she would take Potter's side, especially if she learned exactly why he'd been given detention in the first place. He knocked on the door and opened it, stepping into the hospital wing.

Hermione was already dressed in her school uniform sans the robe and cloak, the only change being that her house colours were replaced by black. As the funeral also involved Muggles, he had forgone his own usual garb for a tailored black suit. Severus offered her his arm, which she looked blankly at for a moment before slipping her own arm around it.

Hermione was completely silent during the entire journey through Hogwarts castle and grounds to the Apparition point. For someone who had been looking for a way to keep her quiet for years, Severus was disturbed by her silence.

Severus had known that Hermione was an only child, but not that her parents also were. Her grandparents had died before she was born, leaving the only other mourners a few of Mr. and Mrs. Granger's colleagues from their dental practice along with the odd long-time patient. Condolences given from those other mourners rang hollow at best, as none of them could truly comprehend how Hermione felt. Severus grew even more concerned when she barely responded, her eyes dry, deadened and fixed on the ground.

They were left alone amongst the flower arrangements at the crematorium. Severus stepped closer to Hermione now that there were no observers to wonder at the physical interaction between teacher and student. His hands rested on her shoulders as he gently shook her. That did not rouse her from wherever her mind was hiding, so he grasped her jaw in one hand, tipping her chin up so that her eyes were forced to meet his. She gradually focussed on him, her face shut down, no emotion escaping the mask that had settled over it.

"Hermione, I know more than most how damaging it can be to bottle your emotions up. While I don't doubt that you think that you've shed all of your tears, the loss of your parents will supply near limitless amounts." She averted her eyes at his words, pulling back as she tried to free herself from his grip.

"Look at me. How many times have you told me that to cut yourself off from emotions is to entrap yourself in a prison of your own making?" Hermione reluctantly met his gaze at his entreaty.

"I don't want to feel anything at the moment. I can't cope with the loss of control; it scares me," Hermione whispered, her voice hoarse from lack of use.

Severus snorted. "If you hold everything in for too long you'll blow your top."

Hermione didn't react, other than to look away again. She shook her head, making her bushy mane whip around. "Emotions are something I can't afford at the moment. I won't be ruled by them."

"You're a Necromancer, not a Dementor's victim," Severus remarked. Hermione without emotions was hardly Hermione at all; he would not let her retreat into herself.

"That's just another reason to ditch my emotions."

Severus narrowed his dark eyes at the girl before him. "Without your emotions, you lose all sense of yourself. You need your feelings intact to stand any chance of withstanding the Dark Arts without falling to them."

"I don't think I could feel anything today even if I wanted to." Severus arched an eyebrow at her words then acted on impulse to prove her wrong. His hand on her face slipped around to the base of her head, fingers threading into her hair. He bent down to bring his head on level with hers, leaning forward to close the scant inches separating them as he tilted his face to keep his sizeable nose out of the way.

It would have been a simple, close-mouthed kiss if Hermione's jaw hadn't dropped in her surprise at his abrupt move. As it was, Severus had to bite his tongue to prevent it from exploring at the very first touch of her lips against his own. His mind screamed at him to end the contact as she got over her surprise and started to kiss him back, her arms snaking around his body to pull herself closer to him.

He pulled away, breathing harshly as he struggled to contain his body's automatic response to the feel of her curvaceous form against his own lean frame. He swallowed, eyes avoiding Hermione at all costs. "I shouldn't have done that. The Headmaster will have my head if he finds out what just happened, or worse: he'll give me to Minerva McGonagall for molesting one of her cubs."

Hermione reached up, grabbing his face with her hands. "They don't need to know. Besides, you told me that Professor Dumbledore agreed to your seducing me."

"Yes, but I was to begin after you came of age. There are nasty names for teachers who seduce their students under the age of seventeen."

Hermione pulled his face down to her own to force him to meet her gaze. "Then it's just as well that I'm already of age, isn't it? My use of a Time Turner guarantees that." Even if he shouldn't have kissed her, at least the spark had returned to her eyes. In fact, the way that her pupils were dilated, he wondered if he'd managed to ignite her desire with a single kiss. That train of thought gave him enough warning to turn his head as she leant forwards, leaving her lips to land on his cheek. He firmly pushed her away, attempting to soften the perceived rejection by keeping his hands on her.

"Be that as it may, school records do not take that into account. We must wait." He Disapparated only to arrive at the school boundary alone. "Confounded girl!" he exclaimed, Apparating back to the crematorium.

Hermione was transfixed, head cocked as though listening to something. Her eyes were wider than he'd ever seen them, her lips bloodless. She looked seriously spooked by something. She spun towards him, stumbling into his arms.

"Get me out of here!" she moaned, voice trembling. Severus did as she asked, taking them both to the gates of Hogwarts.

"Would you care to tell me what provoked this kind of reaction?" Severus asked, his arms full with the trembling girl.

Hermione shook her head against his chest, but that was not in answer to his question, rather in reaction to what she'd just experienced. She pulled her head away, so that her voice would not be muffled. "Someone was still alive when they were cremated," she stated, the waver still present in her voice.

"What? Who? Why didn't you say something when we were still there, we could have stopped it..." Hermione touched her slim, ink-stained fingers to his lips, silencing him in mid-sentence.

"It's already happened. I remember hearing something about it years back on the Muggle news. But just now, I heard the death cry, like I was there when it happened. I've a feeling that this was my first conscious taste of my Necromantic powers."

"You can hear the dead, even when they didn't become ghosts," Severus mused.

"It's like an audible bloodstain. An echo of the past." Hermione froze, her wide eyes turning towards the castle. "Severus, how many people have died in Hogwarts?" Her voice was shrill with fear.

"A fair few, I'm afraid. You need to learn how to control your Necromancy; maybe then you won't have to hear these people die." Severus watched her close her eyes, breathing deeply as she tried to master her fear. His eyes widened as he observed the surrounding vegetation ice over, his breath misting the suddenly cold air. The frost vanished as Hermione calmed down, leaving no trace of it as she opened her eyes.

"I just wish that there was a guide as to how to use Necromantic powers," Hermione murmured as they headed for the castle, apparently unaware that she had just brought the earliest frost to this part of Scotland since the eruption of Tambora in 1815.

By the time they had reached the hospital wing, Hermione was leaning on Severus. The funeral had obviously taken a greater toll on her than she had expected.

"Let this be a lesson, Miss Granger. Suppressing emotions is tiring. You don't have the energy to do so at the present time," Severus said, using her surname to avoid questioning by Madam Pomfrey who was currently itching to pour a dozen potions down Hermione's throat to heal her curse scar further.

"Thank you, Professor," Hermione said, her eyes following him as he walked away. Severus realised that she hadn't specifically thanked him for accompanying her to the funeral. That coupled with the way she'd gazed after him lead him to wonder if she had his impulsive kiss in mind.

'That girl will be the death of me.'

AN: I am not terribly experienced at writing anything romantic, so please bear that in mind if you think it's horrendous.