Chapter 12

Disclaimer: It all belongs to J K Rowling. Except the plot and the usage of Necromancy. I also highly doubt she'd put Hermione with Severus.

Thanks to my beta LadySunflower and my reviewers. Knowing that you like this does encourage me to write more.

Chapter 12

Severus was finishing his coffee when Hermione looked up from her breakfast, making eye contact with him. Both Potter and Weasley were sitting apart from her again, leaving Miss Weasley to keep her company. Perhaps it was time to goad them into supporting her again, but judging by the pinched, disapproving look on Minerva's face, she would beat him to it.

An owl broke off from the morning post flight, landing on his shoulder and offering the letter on its leg to him. Severus took it, recognising the handwriting as Hermione's. Not that any of the other teachers would recognise it; she was right handed, yet her correspondence to him when delivered in public was written using her left hand.

'Severus,

R of R, 9 o'clock. Think of 'dungeon lair'.

I.K.I.A.'

Only Hermione would sign using the acronym of what was once an insult. He made an almost imperceptible nod of his head to Hermione. If he'd been a student, getting to the Room of Requirement without being seen would be a challenge, but a Disillusionment Charm was simple enough for him to use. He left the Great Hall and used the charm, controlling his reaction to the cold sensation dripping down from his head signifying that the charm was in effect. He decided to wait until Hermione made her way to the seventh floor, just to test her observation skills.

Hermione gave no sign of noticing him as he trailed behind her, only visible as a shimmer in the air as he moved nearly silently. She paused before the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy then paced back and forth in front of the wall opposite three times, until the door materialised. She opened it, stepped inside... and slammed the door in his face as he attempted to slip through. The door vanished, leaving him clutching at his throbbing nose, blood trickling down onto his fingers.

'That bitch! She'd better not have broken it. Poor thing's had that happen too many times to count already.'

He stormed up and down, thinking furiously. 'I want a dungeon lair with Hermione Granger chained to the wall!' He yanked the door open when it appeared, slammed it shut behind him and automatically cast the privacy charm. Another tap of his wand on top of his head cancelled the Disillusionment Charm with a rush of warmth. He opened his mouth to yell at Hermione, bloodstained fingers gripping at the bridge of his large nose in an attempt to slow the flow. The outraged cry died in his throat as his jaw hung slack for a moment, his eyes blinking in disbelief.

'I know I asked for Hermione to be chained up, but I didn't think it'd actually happen...'

He could barely see Hermione for chains, and from the way she was slumped against the wall, the chains had probably slammed her into it hard enough to knock her out. She straightened, letting out a rather pained-sounding groan. The chains released her, vanishing at Severus's unconscious demand. She brought her hand up to rub at her face, her hair mostly hiding the movement.

"You didn't have to break by dose..." Severus started to say, his words contorted by his battered nose.

Hermione turned to face him, revealing that she was also gripping her nose. "Ditto," she spat the word out, a trickle of blood running from her mouth as well as from her nose. "Gah! You got one of my deeth too, you bastub." If anything Hermione's voice was even more affected by her injuries than his own was.

She stalked over to a newly appeared figure in green robes; apparently the Room of Requirement could conjure up a mediwitch. Her injuries were fixed in moments, but judging by the venomous glare she shot him over her shoulder, he was not forgiven. The faceless mediwitch fixed him up too then vanished.

"You were trying to sneak up on me, Severus, so I'd say you deserved what you got. I told you yesterday that I could hear your heartbeat. Today I can pick it out from all of the others I can hear, too. These new powers of mine are growing, as is my control of them." Hermione smirked at him, an expression that she seemed to have picked up from him. "Speaking of sneaking..." She snatched up her wand, casting a non-verbal Summoning Charm. His crystal ball flew into her hands. "Perhaps you'd care to explain why you've been using this to scry on me."

Severus swallowed. It was all very well to use it without her knowledge, but now that she knew, he doubted that she'd allow him to keep watching her from afar with it. "I told you that I was keeping an eye on you, didn't I? Come to that, how did you find out about the uses of crystal balls?"

Hermione didn't answer at first, rolling her eyes at him. "You obviously don't know me as well as I thought you did. I looked it up in the library! Heaven help me if you're the most intelligent man under fifty years old - that had to have been a question on the level of the rest of the bottom dwellers otherwise known as the male of the species."

He flushed, sweeping his hair back from his face. Severus didn't fire an insult back, as angering Hermione even before she became a Necromancer was a bad idea.

"As I said before, you are my concern. Whilst Hogwarts is safer for you than anywhere else..." Severus fidgeted, unwilling to expose himself further, even to Hermione.

"Professor Dumbledore will be keeping an eye on me too. I daresay he has his own overgrown marble to use for scrying and the network of portraits on top of that." Hermione grimaced. "That's kind of creepy, come to think of it. If I didn't know that Albus Dumbledore was a man of unquestionable honour, his spying network in this place could be all too easy for a pervert to take advantage of. For example, someone like Phineas Nigellus. I'm so glad that he's long dead."

"You do realise that death hasn't stopped that old depraved sod?"

"Yes, but the Headmaster told me that he's restricted to his own portraits. Anyhow, you don't need to be watching me." For someone six inches shorter and with a slighter frame, Hermione could look pretty intimidating when she wanted to. She pocketed the glass ball.

"Do you think confiscating that will stop me? Crystal balls are readily available from the North Tower."

"Oh, I know. This is for me to use." Hermione's smile was devilish as she patted her pocket.

"Insufferable girl!"

"Thank you. Just think, you'll never know when I'm watching you. Enjoy your next shower, won't you..." Hermione froze, her voice trailing off. After several shaky breaths, her irate gaze almost glowed. "Severus Snape! When have you been using this?" She hauled the object in question out, weighing it in her hand as if highly tempting to hurl it in his direction.

"Wouldn't you like to know. You had no trouble with the thought of using it on me when I was unclothed. Rather different when it's you that's so vulnerable, isn't it."

"I was joking!" Hermione shrieked. She threw the ball at him.

Severus grabbed it, beckoning her closer. "I may have used it before and found that you were bathing or putting clothes on or off, but observe: Locus Hermione Jane Granger."

The mist in the glass sphere was clearing, but the picture revealed of Hermione was blurred. Even when it sharpened, it was only her face that showed clearly.

"You see? I do respect your modesty, Hermione. I cast a charm on you preventing anything but your face showing clearly whenever anyone scried for you."

"Oh. I'm sorry; I should have realised. Do you have the same charm?" When he shook his head, she offered to place it on him.

"Thank you, but while I do not have the same charm on me, Professor Dumbledore placed a blocking charm on me. I can't be scried at all, so even if you had tried to sneak a peek, you'd have been disappointed."

"Oh, I severely doubt that, from what I felt yesterday." Hermione blushed deeply as she realised what had slipped from her unguarded lips. "Er..."

"Professor Dumbledore's bouts of deafness are catching; I didn't hear a word you just said." Severus smirked. "Just as well that I can lip read sufficiently well to bask in the heat of your mortification."

"Enough delay. We have half an hour... Legilimens."

Albus Dumbledore was observing the Gryffindor Quidditch Tryouts from his Pensieve, currently used as a scrying surface. He only tended to scry after three people: Harry, Severus and Hermione. While he had blocked Severus from being scried, that did not prevent him from doing it. He'd been observing Hermione's Occlumency lessons over the past week, only to lose the connection during the first of them when both the floor of his office and the surface of his Pensieve iced over.

Severus had seen fit to inform him of the girl's progress, which due both to her intellect and memory was impressive. By her latest tutoring session on Friday evening, she could spin false memories that were indistinguishable from the real ones. He was also aware of the kisses that had been shared, but saw no need to slap either of their wrists over it. It was only on Severus's own insistence that he was waiting until Hermione was of age.

Hermione was sitting in the stands, watching as Harry began to put the Chasers through their paces. It was only when the Bludgers were released that it was obvious that something was wrong. They failed to burst out of the box when the catches were released. Albus observed Hermione stand up, frowning. Harry waved her over, thinking that she could assist, only for a look of disbelief to cross his face when she hissed something in his ear. She waved her wand in a complex pattern then marched off. The Bludgers almost knocked Harry over as they shot up, working perfectly well again.

"So, Fawkes... on the surface it seems that Hermione reversed the jinx keeping the Bludgers from working. That is what will appear to those watching. But from Harry's expression the truth is somewhat different."

The phoenix chirped, a feather falling out of his tail. He was approaching another burning day. Albus cancelled the scrying spell as he registered the sound of the revolving staircase leading up to his office. He looked above his half-moon spectacles as Hermione came inside.

"Headmaster, were you watching just now?" At Albus's nod, Hermione continued, "It wasn't a jinx affecting the enchanted Quidditch balls. It was me. I told Harry I had to go, as I think if he knew it was my unconscious doing, then it'd just be another thing between us. Our friendship is fragile enough as it is, sir. Can you think of a way for me to avoid any and all Quidditch games and matches?"

"I could orchestrate something, yes. There is a curse in existence, most heinous to the majority of the Wizarding world because it makes the afflicted allergic to the sport. It would also allow you to escape Quidditch talk." Albus reached into his robe, withdrawing his wand whilst keeping it under his desk.

"Thank you sir! I'll leave you in peace." Hermione turned away. Albus smiled thinly and launched the curse. The force of it knocked Hermione to her knees. She rolled to her feet, wand in hand, only to almost drop it upon seeing that her Headmaster had cast a spell at her when she had her back turned. "What have you done?!"

"For purposes of realism, it is best to actually have you under the curse. You see, it is quite well documented, its symptoms well known. It will last a year and a day, with no counter-spell or potion in existence that can take it off. You will find that at the mention of Quidditch, coming anywhere near Quidditch balls and quite possibly even a broomstick makes you come out in a rather painful fluorescent blue rash. Don't worry, it will fade when you are away from all things Quidditch."

"...thank God; I hate Quidditch," Hermione muttered. "I just went to the games to support my friends. This curse might just turn out to be a blessing." She scowled at the Headmaster as each of his mentions of 'Quidditch' (and her own) made a burning rash appear on her exposed skin. Albus just smiled back at the fading-back-to-skin-tones girl, popping a lemon drop into his mouth.