Breakthroughs

A long while later found the two comfortably ensconced on the couch, the curtains firmly closed against any further invading rays of sunlight. Both were now dressed warmly in dry robes, Hermione contentedly cuddled in Severus' lap with her face buried in the warm skin of his neck. Severus was absentmindedly playing with one of Hermione's stubborn curls, bringing it up to his nose so he could inhale its scent before allowing it to bounce back into place again.

They had been sitting in a comfortable silence for so long, Severus had begun to think his little vampire had fallen asleep. He jumped slightly when her voice broke the stillness.

"I am sorry for nearly biting you that time. It was not my intention at all. This whole vampire thing just overwhelmed me and..."

Her voice trailed off. This was the first time she had dared to broach the subject with him. They had spent the last few weeks in strained silence, Severus making her potion, and Hermione continuing with her utterly useless research.

Severus tipped his head down, trying to look into her eyes, but Hermione stubbornly kept them averted. With a sigh, he gripped her chin, forcing her head upwards and her gaze to meet his.

"You have nothing to apologise for. I must admit I may have taunted you slightly, not to mention my severe lapse in judgment when I knew what... condition you suffer from." He gently caressed her face. "It is I who should apologise to you for nearly attacking you earlier. My actions must have disturbed you enough for you to forget about your routine safety precautions."

"Please, Severus, let us not go there! That has been said and done. No more regrets or recriminations, okay?"

"Agreed."

Hermione leant forward, picking up a book from the huge pile on the coffee table. She flipped through a few pages before growling in frustration and chucking the book over her shoulder.

She glanced up to see Severus smirking at her.

"And just what, may I ask, was that about?"

Hermione growled again. "It is just no use, Severus! These books are utterly useless when it comes to finding a cure. All they contain are 'cures' for how to rid oneself of a vampire, and every single one of them involves the vampire dying. I do not wish to have a wooden stake pierce my heart or any other such gruesome end, unless absolutely necessary. It is all so frustrating. I will never be human again!"

Severus listened to her rant, a tiny line creasing his brow as some memory tugged at the back of his mind.

Severus scooped Hermione off his lap, placing her back on the couch. His mind whirling, Severus began to pace. He just knew he had seen it somewhere. But was it really there? And could he get his hands on it?

Hermione watched Severus pacing with puzzlement. What had she said to make him react like that?

Abruptly, Severus stopped mid-stride and whirled to face her.

"I need to see an old friend. Get some rest. I will be back soon."

Severus leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. Then he was gone, leaving a completely baffled Hermione behind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Severus. How delightful of you to drop in. To what do I owe this honour?"

"Good afternoon, Lucius. I do apologise for not visiting you sooner. I have had other... issues to deal with of late."

Lucius led Severus to the decadent living room, poured each of them a generous amount of Firewhisky and settled himself comfortably on the couch

"Ah. Could it be you have finally found a woman, my friend? I remember when Narcissa and I..." Lucius' voice trailed off as he stared into his tumbler.

Severus cleared his throat roughly.

"I do apologise, Severus. Sometimes it all feels like it just happened."

"Still no news then?" Severus inquired.

"No, still nothing. No word, no clues, nothing."

Over a year previously, Narcissa Malfoy had disappeared. No body had been found, and no evidence of foul play had been detected. Still, the Ministry had been determined to pin her supposed death onto one of the Malfoy males. After Voldemort's fall, evidence had come to light proving both Malfoys had been working for the side of the Light. A public outcry had ensued at the ongoing case against two now beloved war heroes, and the Ministry had been forced to drop all charges.

Narcissa had never been found, and Lucius, convinced she would never leave him voluntarily, had hired the best wizards to find her. So far they had turned up absolutely nothing.

"I am sorry, old friend, it must be difficult."

"Enough of me," Lucius said, waving away his friend's concern. "Tell me more about this distraction of yours."

"It is a little more complicated–"

Lucius snorted. "When has it ever not been complicated with you?" he enquired, smirking.

Severus chose to ignore him, drinking from his glass to give himself more time to structure his request.

"If I am correct, you possess a grand collection of books of a very rare and somewhat, shall we say... delicate nature?"

Lucius leaned forward in his seat, interest finally sparking in his eyes.

"Before I answer that question, perhaps you should tell me a little more about your latest project."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Severus left, Hermione had attempted to look through another book, but with each page she turned she could feel her irritation level rising. There simply was nothing of use in these pathetic, biased books. It was all on how to destroy a vampire. It seemed that no one had ever bothered to do any proper research into the life and habits of a vampire, not to mention a cure for vampirism.

Letting out small a scream of frustration, she had laid her head on her the desk, softly banging her forehead again and again on the wood.

Had Severus left after her outburst because he had realised she would probably be a vampire for the rest of her unnatural life and a danger to every one around her?

Hermione jumped as a book thunked down on the table in front of her. Jerking her head up, she glared into the smirking face of Severus Snape.

The smirk threatened to stretch into a grin as his gaze rose above her eyes. Hermione realised he had noticed what was probably a huge, red mark in the centre of her forehead.

Biting back a groan of embarrassment, Hermione decided to play it cool.

"Oh, hello, Severus," she said breezily.

She could have sworn his lips twitched upwards even more. Ignoring him, she turned to look at the book he had dropped in front of her.

"Moste Evile Kreatures." Hermione's brow furrowed with puzzlement. "Where did you find this? It was definitely not in the library. I searched the Restricted Section from top to bottom. It is extremely rare and on the Ministry's banned list."

"It does help sometimes to have friends in low places," Severus replied.

"Who?" Hermione asked. Severus just sat there looking at her expectantly. Then it hit her like a bolt of lightning, leaving her shaken.

"Mr Malfoy?" At Severus' nod, Hermione asked quietly, "But why would he help me? I am nothing but a Mudblood to him."

Severus stared at Hermione intently.

"Is that truly what you believe? Hermione, Lucius may have been that way years before, but please allow for the fact that time and circumstances can change a man. Believe it or not, Lucius holds you in high regard. He has watched you survive situations well beyond what one your age should be able to cope with. He is impressed with you and your brilliant little mind."

Hermione knew he was talking about more than just Lucius' regard for her.

At her glowing look, Severus shrugged and said, "Besides, he owed me one."

Hermione giggled, opening the book eagerly. Severus watched her flipping quickly through the pages for a moment, before moving around the table to his delectable little witch.

He leaned down and firmly grasped her chin, turning her face up to him. He smiled slightly when he noticed her eyes turned to the furthest corner of their sockets so that she could still see the pages of the book.

"Look at me, Hermione."

Hermione shivered at the sensual tone of his voice. Exasperated, she turned her eyes to look at the dark wizard in front of her. What did he want now when she was on the verge of a breakthrough...? Oh... oh!

The kiss was hard, quick and over too soon. It was a kiss filled with promise.

"You continue your research, Hermione, while I finish your potion," he said silkily. Suddenly, he whirled around, moving quickly to his alcove to work on her potion.

Hermione shook her head after a moment. Grinning foolishly, she returned her attention to her book, a little confused by this enigmatic man she was falling in love with.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Severus had just healed the little cut on his arm and was about to add the phial of his blood to the potion when he heard an excited squeal and felt a whirlwind hit him, nearly toppling the cauldron.

Hermione threw herself into Severus' arms, peppering his face and neck with little kisses. In her excitement, she hardly noticed that she had nearly destroyed her potion.

With a surge of strength, Severus pushed her back and held her at arms length, smiling slightly at her exuberance.

"Let me guess," he said sardonically. "The book has something that will help?"

Hermione was at a loss for words. She nodded happily while tears started to fill her eyes.

Severus gently wiped the moisture away with his thumbs.

"That is wonderful, Hermione. Let me just finish the potion, then we can discuss your findings."

Hermione nodded again, stepping back further to watch him complete the final step for her potion.

Severus unstoppered the phial, pouring the blood into the mixture.

"Are you still using rat blood, Severus?" Hermione enquired.

Severus felt an unusual twinge of guilt as he nodded stiffly. He wondered what made her ask that particular question. He swiftly bottled the potion and set it aside to cool.

When he turned to face her, she still had a contemplative look on her face. He quickly put his arm around her shoulders, guiding her to the book-laden table. It would not do for his witch to catch on now. Bloody Hell! When had he started thinking of her as his witch?

Hermione seemed to snap out of her thoughts as she noticed the book lying open on the table. Her previous excitement rose up in her once more.

Eagerly she turned to Severus, grabbing him by the lapels of his coat. She turned excited eyes up to his inquisitive ebony ones.

"Severus, I have to go to Transylvania!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N Special extra thanks to my wonderful betas, Lumiere and Charmed3, especially now when the deadline is looming!!

G, couldn't do it without you.