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Chapter 23

When Snape had finally returned Hermione had fallen into a proper restful sleep. A quick diagnostic spell revealed that her epinephrine level had come down dramatically. Her head was leaned against the wing of the chair and the nutrient drip had run out. Her B12 levels were still low but proper meals would set them right again.

She looked peaceful. Snape didn't know why but he stopped to take her in. Truly, take her in. She had always been just another face in the crowd to him, her punctuated presence only sticking out when she was doing something or another with Potter that put her in danger. It was in those moments only that he ever truly remembered who she was. She had always been beside Potter and Weasley in his mind. Part of a set, nothing more. But now, now she was alone. He came just a bit closer.

Her hair wasn't nearly as wild as it had been. It had tamed with the leaving of her youth. It had grown lighter in areas but still had a deep chocolate shine. The curls were soft, not spiraled. Like waves in the ocean. Her nose was small though fit her face well. The rounded curves of childhood on her cheeks were gone, leaving behind gentle angles of a young woman. She had the smallest little crease under her right eye and a small dusting of barely noticeable freckles under them. Her legs were long and tapered. He'd held her enough to know they were nearly solid. Her arms too just as lean, were wrapped around her waist holding onto the fabric beneath her long fingers.

He wasn't sure how long he stood there. He wasn't even sure why he had. The only thought that roused him was the knowledge that the possibility of her seeing her 20th birthday was highly improbable. It made his heart ache that this child, who had grown into a young woman before him, never stood a chance.

Deciding to let her rest for the time being, he moved to the office to retrieve her research. Something had been itching at the back of his brain. He'd finished three of the four stones before he'd even noticed something was missing from the final step. Cheeky girl. He actually smiled, fully smiled. Perhaps there was a bit of a Slytherin in her after all. He was just about to turn back when Albus moved through a frame of one of the other headmaster's.

"Brave of you to return."

"How is she, Severus?" His tone was heavy and there was no twinkle in the corner of his eye.

"Alive." His voice could have cut diamonds.

"You really are, an honorable man."

Snape said nothing more and turned away, the smile that had graced his lips fully inverted to a deep frown. He didn't have anything even remotely nice to say to the man. If he'd had his way, he would have dumped her off somewhere Potter would have found her and washed his hands of the entire mess. Perhaps if he'd done that, she may have had a chance.

He shut the door heavily, forgetting that he had meant for Granger to stay asleep a bit longer. A soft groan quickly reminded him but he feared it was too late. With a silent curse, he moved towards the fireplace. He needed to check her mental acuity anyway.

"How do you feel, Miss Granger?" His voice still had a small edge to it that had been left over from his brief dismissal of Albus.

"Itchy..." She was already rubbing her stomach and arms by the time he rounded the corner of the chair.

"I can't give you anymore salve." He made a face when she pulled open the button up shirt to get at her skin. He noted that his salves had done a rather fair job of calming the rash but the pockmarks remained. Something surely had bitten her. Whatever it was wouldn't be solved with a topical salve. "Stop that, you'll break the skin."

Hermione glared up at him weakly. What did he care if she broke the skin? It was her body. Then again, he had been trying to take care of her. She felt childish for a moment before forcing her hand away. It was just in time too, she had started to feel a tingle along her neck. "Can I...take a bath then?"

Snape pursed his lips. She was definitely more alert then he had previously believed she would be. Her mind was clear and sharp, it was as relieving as it was troubling. Where had she pushed all of that fear to? She'd been ready to tear him apart for answers and not since then had she even remotely wandered in that direction.

"How do you normally deal with stress?" Snape lowered the edge in his voice as he came around to sit in the chair across from her. He wasn't a psychologist by any means but he did have some experience with stress. Or at least suppressing it.

"What do you...mean?" She let out a rather large yawn and rubbed her eye.

"What do you do to calm yourself down during stressful situations?" He regarded her carefully, her face was still flushed from her small nap and her eyes were growing more yellow. He didn't have much more time to wait if he was going to save what was left of her liver and kidneys.

"I..."Hermione turned her eyes away trying to think. She'd never really thought about it before. She sort of always felt tense. Unlike now, now she felt unbelievably relaxed. She couldn't even remember a time where she'd not had some thought or another looping around in her brain.

Snape could actually see her body growing tense. It was an interesting thing to witness; like watching a spring being coiled. He may have just made a grave error but it was too late to back out now. He waited for her to finish her thought but frowned when her mind rounded once again on the missing time.

"I don't know... It doesn't really go away until I solve whatever I'm working on..." Hermione shifted in the chair uncurling her legs down towards the floor.

Snape nodded slightly before glancing down at one of the books he'd left on the coffee table, "I'll have to remove the tube from your stomach, after which you can take a bath."

"Okay..." Hermione shifted back in the chair carefully as he came closer. When he leaned down over her to pull the empty oversized vial from its place behind the chair she couldn't help but smell him. He smelled nice, like a library. Her eyes flicked up but all she saw was the black buttons of his coat. When he leaned back she swallowed thickly, looking at the tip of his ebony wand.

"Lean your head back and try not to swallow." He waited for her to heed his command before pressing the tip of his wand into her throat.

Hermione shivered when the cool tip ran down. Why was she suddenly very aware of everything? Her face felt hot. He was so close.

Snape ignored her reaction to his presence. It was odd even to him but he pushed it aside. A tap on the tube shrunk it down to the size of a sewing thread and he gently pulled it free. Another smart flick of his wand banished it away and he was once again outside of her personal space. He turned away setting the vial down before picking up a book. He cast a charm over it to protect it from water damage before holding it out to her.

Hermione took the book he'd offered to her and turned it to look at the cover, her brow twitched lightly. Deciding not to comment on his kindness she pulled the book to her chest. "Thank you..."

"Poppet." Snape turned away from her looking at the elf that appeared at his heel, "Please find Miss Granger some more clothes and assist her in the bath." He glanced at Hermione for a brief moment. "She's not allowed to leave these rooms."

"Yes, Master. Poppet understands."

Hermione lowered her head submissively to his glare. She wasn't about to do anything stupid. She could remember that not working out so well for her last time. She kept her head down until he turned back towards the office. The two books that had been left behind on the coffee table scooped up on his way out.

oOo

"This passage is blocked now." Luna and Harry were adding to the map. With Luna's charm skills and Harry's input, they were making changes to the decade's old map, trying to find a safe way for them to get in and out of the castle without being seen.

"What about this one?" Ron was actually being helpful for once. After the image had faded out he had left the tent. He'd spent some time on his own to collect himself before coming back in.

"Yes, Neville tried that one first, there's a nasty trap waiting for you about halfway through. He nearly lost his ear." Luna made a face at the memory.

"You guys have been fighting Snape this whole time?" Ron pushed a bit of dried banana into his mouth.

"Snape really hasn't been a problem." Luna turned over another part of the map, "He never leaves his office. It's the Carrow Twins that are the most dangerous."

"Who are they?" Harry leaned over looking at the names Luna had paused over.

"They're death eaters, everyone knows. You thought Umbridge was bad, she was a saint compared to the two of them." Luna pulled her eyes away slowly rising them up to look at Harry. "They truly have no conscience."

"Are they...are they the ones who..." Harry still couldn't get the image of her bruises out of his mind.

Luna glanced up at him briefly, "Not all." She turned the map again, "This might work, I don't think they knew about this one." Luna pointed to where the Lake was. It looked like a path ran under the edge just on the far side of the lake and up under the main courtyard of the castle.

"We can scout it tonight." Harry's voice was absolute.

oOo

"Here you are, miss." Poppet had returned with another random assortment from the lost and found. A pair of boy's slacks, a black skirt that had yellow trim, a vest that looked to have been from a Yule ball, a deep red t-shirt and a school robe that looked to have been a first year's.

Hermione gave the creature a soft smile and took the clothes. She felt infinitely stronger than before. Even the ache she'd grown accustomed to in her ribs was barely a bother. Her gut wrenching cry that morning had lifted some of the weight from her shoulders but had replaced it with something new.

Snape had held her. He'd held her while everything inside of her had come crashing down. He'd been entirely silent but had brushed away her tears and cleared her nose when her sobs had grown to strong. Of all the things she had expected about him, none of what she'd experienced had been it.

She placed the clothes down on the counter and picked out the trousers and t-shirt before looking at the vest, it was large but surely the elf could fix it. Her mind was still turning but she tried to stay focused. The book he'd given her looked promising. She knew very little about magic when it came to the mind, only what she had read during her time in the forest when she tried to help Harry practice his occlumancy. She'd tried a few small exercises herself but hadn't taken any real time in developing the skill.

"Master takes good cares of you miss." Poppet was watching her with a soft smile, "He gives you clothes."

Hermione smiled woefully at the innocent comment and turned to look down at the small creature. She was probably the best-dressed house-elf she'd seen. The green pillowcase looked well cared for and there wasn't a mark to be found anywhere on the elf's body. "Does he take care of you as well?"

Poppet's ears lifted a little, "Yes miss, our master is very kind."

Hermione's smile faded away then. The use of our struck her rather hard upside her head. It harshly reminded her of her place in the world. The place in Voldemort's supposed utopia. She blinked back the tears that had started to grow in her eyes and turned away to look into the mirror above the sink.

Her fingers lifted slowly; she could just make out small raised lines along her neck. She tilted her head to the side and ran her fingers over the invisible brand. Her heart sunk then; even if she were somehow to survive this, would she ever be free? What if Harry failed? What would happen to her then?

Her body jerked slightly and she felt a small flash over her thoughts. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on it but it was gone too soon. Like a distant childhood memory. The only thing that came to her was the feeling of a hand pressing against her chest. Her own rose over it trying to push the feeling away.

oOo

A quick glance at the clock made Snape sigh heavily. It was nearing noon. His early morning had been nearly wasted away. He had to find whatever binding curse Voldemort had used, finish the spell Granger had made, finalize the reports for the evening meeting and delve into the depths of one of the Golden Trio's innermost thoughts. It was a daunting list.

He glanced at the mirror that now showed the door to the bathroom. He felt confident that Poppet would have alerted him had anything gone wrong with the girl's bath. She'd been in there for some time, at least 45 minutes. How long did it take for someone to take a bath? Surely not longer than an hour. He lowered his head back down to the text in front of him making a mental note to physically check on her in fifteen minutes.

His research thus far had left him unbelievably frustrated. The first book he'd found was completely useless as it only pertained to binding magical creatures into servitude and was printed in the early 1700s. The second book was starting to be more hopeful but he'd only made it to indentured servitude.

The spell that Voldemort had cast was similar to his own creation with the dark mark. It's power though was beyond the normal level of binding. His own dark mark merely requested his presence but didn't punish him for disobeying. Not the way he'd seen before. His arm would hurt, but it would fade away with time.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose and turned to another chapter. It wasn't even mid-day and he was already exhausted. He'd slept better than he thought he would but he still felt well overtired. He hadn't meant to fall asleep with her in his bed. He'd only meant to have laid there until she fell asleep. Still, he found that his sleep had felt more restful, even with the rude wake-up.

Pushing those thoughts away he looked back down at the book in his hands. He flipped through a few more pages, quickly skimming the top paragraphs before coming to a halt over an inked full page picture. His back straightened and he turned back a page to the beginning of the chapter. His eyes scanning quickly through, pulling out all the useful information.

Ancient magic from the artics, the most powerful slave binding spell known to wizarding kind. The Enslavic Empermia curse was first used by Nordic warriors. The curse provides complete and total control over its subject until such time where the subject willingly accepts its servitude. After which, the cursed will find themselves free from the binds that hold them but may not have the will nor desire to be free.

Snape breathed heavily through his nose, turning the page. This wasn't good. There was no way he could ever see that young woman accepting anything that had come to pass thus far. His eyes scanned through quicker now, reading down the listed effects of resisting the curses hold.

Unlike other slave binds, The Enslavic Empermia has the power to kill its affected. Should the branded property find themselves unwilling or unable to perform the task given to them by their master, a painful lightning will tear through the branded's body. If prolonged, the branded will find themselves on the brink of madness before finally finding themselves unable to move. At which time, the final act of the curse will be enacted and the afflicted will suffer a most painful and horrendous death.

Should the branded find themselves without a master, the cursed will be subject to an even worse fate. Within hours of their master's death, their body will slowly begin to burn from the inside out before finally turning to ash. There have been numerous documentations of this occurring during the Nordic Conquest.

Since then, this spell has not been used as it is not profitable to lose one's property in the event of death. Slave traders have moved onto more reliable spells to increase the security of their property. See page 230 for more information.

Snape's jaw was so tight that it hurt. He turned the page looking at the requirements for completing the spell before looking for any mention on how to reverse it. There had to be something else to be done. There was no way he could save both of their lives. He had already accepted his role in this war and was more than ready to greet the grim reaper. He knew it was foolish but he wanted to believe that something he could do would prevent her from dying. Even if it was only a feeble plea to the heavens.

oOo

"Thank you for drying my hair..."

"It is no problem, miss." Poppet hopped down from the bench, "Are you ready to be getting dressed now?"

"Yes..." Hermione definitely felt cleaner and the warm water had helped to ease some of the ache over her body. She'd taken note of a few more small bruises around her knees but had found that aside from her breast, there were no other illicit marks on her body.

She stepped up out of the tub and wrapped the dark blue towel around herself. She hated to mention it but she didn't think she could look her professor in the eye of she wasn't wearing underclothes, "Poppet... You were really kind to bring me more clothes but... would it be possible for some underwear as well?"

Poppet tilted her head for a moment before popping out. Hermione could feel the blush on her cheeks rising from the question. She shook out her head trying not to feel silly and thought about the information she had gathered from the book he'd allowed her to read while she bathed.

She'd definitely come to understand the darker side of the magical world and just how powerful spells could be against the mind. There was almost a spell for everything. Whether it was to benefit or harm there was something to be done. Not wanting to cloud her thoughts with too much excess information she had turned to the memory retrieval, storage and manipulation section. She had always been fascinated by the idea of being able to store her memories and view them in a pensive but she'd never found a book on the practice. When Harry had let slip a little about what he'd seen in Snape's pensive she had had a wash of new ideas.

One thought had led to another and before long she had one that had stuck out above the rest. What if she could get him to show her the time that she had lost? Surely he must have been there for some of it. Maybe if she could see it, even through his eyes, she could fill the gaps in her memory and have just a bit more peace about the entire situation. She wanted to trust him, but there was so few memories that she could count on to fully bring her onto his side. He'd been kind yes, but he wasn't a simple man and her life hadn't been simple since she'd come to stay with him.

"Will these do miss?" Poppet popped back in interrupting her train of thought. Hermione pushed her hair over her shoulder looking down at what the elf had to offer and gave her a gentle smile, "Those are perfect thank you."

oOo

Snape glanced up just as he was about to get up, the door to the bathroom had opened. He settled himself back down in the chair watching her critically. She looked more as he remembered her, brow furrowed with concentration steps confident chin up. Poppet had placed the bangle back around her ankle but she didn't appear to be looking for a way to escape. The book he'd given her was held to her chest and she started towards the fireplace as if it were the most normal thing for her to do.

Snape pushed himself up taking his own book with him, just as he was about to turn towards his rooms his arm flared and he had to bite back the hiss that came from it. He couldn't take her there again. It was surely a death sentence. His eyes turned to the stones siting on the corner of his desk. He hadn't spoken with Voldemort during the revel. Perhaps this was just a meager consult. It wasn't in his wont to contact him during the day.

He pushed open his door to his room not wanting to argue with the girl, "Go to your room, you may take the book. Stay there until you are retrieved."

Hermione was about to open her mouth when the brand on her neck quickly reminded her. Her legs rose on their own and turned her towards the closet. Her eyes watched him as he summoned his cloak before turning back out. Did he look, worried?

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