Severus woke to the first ray of light. A deep groan shook his chest and he turned his head away. His body was stiff, he could already tell, but he wasn't in pain. He hadn't slept well. Though no dreams had disturbed him, he had started awake to any small sound. He had listened for the charm, but it hadn't gone off. He had gotten up once to check on her regardless and found her to be resting as he should have been.

With as much grace as he could manage, he pushed himself up onto his elbows, taking the time to orient his sleep fatigued mind. Another deep groan pushed him from the bed and onto his feet. His head turned to his closet. He'd left the door open but had closed the door inside. Pushing his morning routine aside, for now, he made his way towards the hidden room.

He ran a hand through his hair out of habit before knocking twice to unlock the door. It wasn't a knock that would have disturbed her but enough to fulfill the requirements of the wards.

The sight that greeted him made his heart thump heavily. Her back had bled through during the night. He could see it clear as day on the back of his white shirt. She hadn't moved from last he saw her. Still curled tightly on her good side. The blanket was wrapped around her waist and her head was down into her hands that had curled tighter than last he saw her.

He turned on his heel, not even entering the room. He looked at the clock on the mantle and felt a small bit of relief. He could give her potions. But which ones would be best? His heavy strength potions from before had nearly done her in, he had to careful.

Doing the math in his head was a challenge for his still foggy mind but he was sure he'd calculated properly. He moved over to his alchemist's cabinet and pulled out what he needed. He had to take a small side trip to the bathroom to get the salve from before.

All things accounted for he turned back into the room. He hadn't even thought to grab a shirt along the way. It was odd of him to forget something like that, he was a rather prudent man after all. He set the assortment down on the bedside table before calling the chair over as well. After taking a seat, he leaned over her.

She was facing away from him but it was no inconvenience. He banished away his ruined shirt before turning his eyes down to the red over her back. The stitches he'd put in place must have torn from her trying to curl up. Circles, slightly bigger than a galleon made a path over the white fabric. The blood was still rather bright telling him that she had started to bleed recently.

He cast another numbing charm over her eliciting a small groan. Hermione turned her head slightly but didn't wake. Unwilling to risk tearing her skin further he parted the wrap along her side. The gauze stayed in place as he feared but he knew he could pull it back carefully by hand.

His long fingers nudged her arm further out of his way and he started to pull it back. The worst of her lashes had been towards the top and he was mindful of the pressure he used to pull it free. A soft moan of pain filled the room and he could tell he was starting to disturb her rest.

He noticed that her skin felt warmer than it should have and he feared she'd gotten an infection. He wouldn't have put it past Voldemort to have put something on the leather, further prolonging the pain. He was sure he had something to counteract it but that would have to wait until he'd sealed her wounds.

Hermione was lost in a dream. The world around her felt fuzzy and warm. It was sunny. Bright and beautiful. So unlike the dreams that had plagued her before. She could feel someone around her. Touching her. The sensation felt oddly real like she wasn't dreaming at all but she knew that couldn't be true. Her dream-self turned trying to find the source but was only able to see beautiful rolling hills.

Where was she? She couldn't be sure. She wasn't afraid. That much she knew. The hands returned to her and she closed her eyes to try and feel them more. They were so gentle, so kind. She could feel her desire to simply fall into them. She turned again trying to see but the world around her had changed.

She was in his main rooms. She could even smell them. Soft lavender, sage and aged parchment. The dream felt more real now, but she had a sort of disconnection with her body. Like she was watching herself inside a memory. She saw him then, sitting in the chair in front of her. His head bowed and his face solemn.

Like watching a train wreck, she found herself out of her control. Her body moved closer to his, taking to sitting on his lap. The hands returned then, running slowly up her back. Her breath came out heavily and she could hear a pounding in her ears. Her body felt warm in a very unfamiliar place.

The man before her had changed slightly. It was hard to see him clearly but in her heart, she knew it was him. Her own hands came down holding on but not restricting his movements. She wanted him to touch her. A thought that had never once reached her conscious before. The butterflies in her stomach grew when the feeling of his hands moved from her back to her waist.

She held herself still, on her knees in his lap. This wasn't a memory anymore. But something somewhere in between. His hands, his touch, felt too real. Still, the dream pressed on. Her breathing was heavier now and so were her eyes. She wanted this, she wanted to feel him.

It was as foreign as it was wanted. Her mind was conflicted, but her body knew exactly what she needed. Her head turned down watching as his hands rose slowly over her stomach. Her mind told her she had been injured, that it should have hurt to touch her, yet in her dream, she felt no pain. Only sweet relief.

Severus was concerned about her breathing and the flush rising on her cheeks. The slaves had done their job with the lashes. He had removed the torn stitches with ease and closed the gashes with what was left of his Dittany, making a mental note to make more when the time arose.

His hands had massaged all the tenseness from her lower back and shoulders. With skilled fingers and a patient mind, he had worked the salve in completely. Her skin looked better than ever. There was only 3 small ridges from the top of her shoulder down across to the middle of her ribs. The skin had knitted together white, only someone who was touching her would have been able to know it was there. They would be sensitive for a while, but they shouldn't cause her any permanent damage.

He had started to turn her onto her back after that. Her arms had resisted for only a moment before she let him guide them up beside her head. It had been then when he noticed the flush that ran from the tops of her cheeks down her neck.

He pressed the backs of his fingers to her forehead but found it cooler than the rest. Her cheek was still red from before, the lotion had only been able to do so much. He paused when her chin had risen to his touch, a soft breathy sigh passing her parted lips. Her fingers started to curl open and closed as though she were searching for something.

He couldn't prolong the inevitable. She was still sleeping, he couldn't very well in good conscious wake her to put the salve on herself because he was scared. He pulled the end of the blanket a little, severing a small square to shield his hand. The salve wasn't harmful in any manner, even so, he couldn't bring himself to touch her, feminine region, with his bare hand.

Hermione was awash with new feelings she couldn't put a name to. The hands had returned but the scene in her dream had changed. She was no longer in the chair but rather spread over a bed, whose she couldn't be certain, but it felt like she was floating upon a cloud of sensation. The room around her swirled slowly in and out of focus.

She felt as though she was spinning but the world inside her mind was standing still. Her eyes watched beautiful deep blue clouds float overhead, having been unable to locate the source of the hands that touched her now. They were different but yet, the same. Long fingers, strong yet so amble. Large palms brought a new heat to her chest and couldn't resist the urge to press up into them.

The world around her was growing smaller. Her body begged to be sated but the hands that soothed her were nowhere where her body wanted them to be. Her own hands reached out blindly to guide them but they only met with air.

Snape nearly jumped out of his skin when her hand came down over his. Her eyes fluttered straight after, making his heart skip. He'd finished with the part of her chest he had most dreaded and was just working the salve into her stomach when she'd taken hold of him.

He actually held his breath, had she seen his face no doubt she would have laughed at him. His voice was stuck in his throat, the sudden reality of what he was doing struck him hard on the side of the head. The pure logistics of his care for her had well stepped outside his comfort zone. Even with his makeshift shield, he was only a man. A weak, man.

He'd stopped being able to think of her as merely a student for some time now but she was easily his junior by 19 years. He had lived two of her entire lifetimes. His mind didn't wander anywhere it shouldn't have, rather, a deep pain had settled in his chest about how pathetically sad his own life had turned out.

His eyes shot down to the hand that had pushed lightly against him. Her brow furrowed and her chest arched up, shifting her upper body. Her stomach flexed beneath his palm and the hand that held him pushed him below her belly button. Her head turned to the side after that, another breathy sigh filling the air. The hand on his wrist relaxed and so did he.

He was more than awake now. He pulled his hand from under hers as though he were disabling a bomb. He turned his body to the closet, summoning another shirt to quickly cover her. He needed a shower. A cold shower.

oOOo

Hermione would wake into the late morning. Her body had completely relaxed, she felt almost like a brand new person. She had spread herself out on the bed; her legs, and arms at odd but not uncomfortable angles. Her head turned away from the light that was just starting to come through the window. She didn't want to leave the beautiful peace her sleepy mind provided.

Unfortunately, her body had other plans and a small twinge in her lower stomach told her that she had no choice but to rise. Her eyes opened slowly, her brain trying to remember the dream she had had that had put her into such a calm state. It was gone now, but she was sure she would remember it in time.

A deep sigh came through her nose and her hands came down to rub the sleep from her face. She felt warm but not terribly so. It took her a few seconds to remember that she wasn't supposed to feel this good. That she had experienced something most terrible.

Her arms shot down pushing her up into her elbows and her eyes looked down over her chest. She wasn't wrapped. The bindings Snape had placed around her were gone and so was the awful redness on her chest. With as much coordination as she could manage, she quickly unbuttoned the white shirt over her, her eyes going wide at her near flawless skin.

How was that even possible? Her hand trembled slightly when she ran her hand down. It was in that moment that her dream made a rather distorted reappearance. Hands, all she could remember was hands. He must have done this... there was no one else. A heat spread from the tops of her cheeks all the way down her neck. He had been the owner of the hands from her dream and she had liked it. More than liked it.

No, that couldn't be...it wasn't even possible. How could she have—and when—and if... Her brain was suddenly a muddled mess of conflicted feelings. She was sure she liked Ron. She was sure. They had been through so much together. How could she not feel a little, something towards him? Snape, he—he had only really been in her life for a few days, it wasn't possible that her heart could have changed its course so quickly—could it?

Hermione shook had head and closed the shirt, wrapping her arms tightly around her waist. She fell back onto the bed, equally surprised that, her back too, felt healed if a little stiff. She had to admire him for his brilliance. She had never known any potion or salve to be as effective as his. Sure, he had warned her that they came at a cost, but how could she deny the results?

Another twinge reminded her that she needed to get up through her mind was still reeling. She couldn't have feelings for Professor Snape... could she?

oOo

"The sixth floor on the east side is now completely off limits. If any of you are found to be wandering its corridors I assure you that expulsion will be the least of your concerns."

Luna turned her head away, tuning out the rest of the speech. The hall was deathly silent and no one aside from a few Slytherin's had dared to even raise their heads. Luna looked over the Ravenclaw table to Neville, who like she, looked to have seen better days. She had a rather large bruise on her right temple and her shoulder was still wrapped.

The fall had been the least severe on her, as she had somehow landed on top of Ron. All three of them had been knocked unconscious when they hit the ground. Her arm had been dislocated and she would guess her head had knocked rather hard into Ron's shoulder. Both boys suffered broken ribs and concussions. They had still been out for the count when she left for Hogwarts.

By some miracle, they had been found by one of the scouts working for the Order. They had taken them to the unplottable house the Weasley family had been taking refuge in. Luna had been in and out for most of it at the beginning but she was sure no adult in the room was happy with how things had turned out.

When she'd fully come to, a rather long time later, she had begged them to let her return to Hogwarts. She knew her absence would have been noted and possibly caused more trouble for everyone in the long run. She had been rather eloquent in her request and even had Mrs. Weasley, who had been beside herself at her son's injuries, to agree to let her go. She had even gone so far as to provide her with a trunk and what meager school supplies she could spare.

Luna had been most grateful as she had nothing of her own anymore. She had asked about her Dad but they had only told her that he was being kept somewhere they couldn't get to him. She suspected that they feared she would do something Griffindorish and attempt to rescue him on her own. She had smiled at their concern for her but she wasn't one of them. No, she was a Ravenclaw. Patient and calculating.

Luna made a small motion trying to garner Neville's attention. He had taken over the D.A. in Harry's absence. He was doing a remarkable job. She had been so happy to see him come out of his shell more.

When the boy finally raised his eyes, she gave him the hand signal that she wanted to talk to him. Intercommunication between houses was being strictly monitored by the Carrows and a select group of Slytherin's who believed themselves to be above the rules of the school. Most other teachers would pretend to scold them if they were in the presence of one of the twins but by in far, the rule was hardly enforced.

Neville caught her subtle gesture and have a similar one in return. They both looked away as food appeared before them. Neither one took in much more than what they would need to get themselves through the day. There were no classes but they knew they were expected to remain in their common rooms for the remainder of the day. The only other place that they were really allowed was the library but it was usually heavily patrolled.

A soft hum had started to fill the room as students started to speak quietly, Luna noted that Snape didn't stay behind to eat with the rest of the staff and she was almost 100 percent certain as to why. She just hoped nothing bad had happened to either of them because of what they'd done. She was sure she was the only one who had even noticed how exhausted the man had appeared. She was sure as well, that she was the only one in the hall who felt even the slightest concern.

oOo

Luna pressed her arithmancy text to her chest. She had spoken to her head of house about procuring a few more uniforms, the charms professor had been most kind and given her a full week worth to put into her borrowed trunk.

Now she was on her way to meet Neville in the library. She hadn't had one of the two-way parchments they had been using to communicate anymore but she was confident that the boy had a spare. They had recruited a rather large mass of students who were training to fight in the final battle alongside Harry. Mostly Gryffindors but Neville had been very good a getting Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs to join as well.

Luna knew she would spotted easily at the table marked for Gryffindors, she knew she would be breaking the rules if she sat next to him but she still made her way over. She caught one of the Carrow twins from the corner of her eye but didn't change her pace.

"Hello, Neville." Luna gave him a gentle smile, not ignoring the fact that the Carrow sister was approaching them quickly.

"Hey, Lun-" He cut himself off just as the mockery of a professor opened their mouth.

"Ravenclaws are to sit over there, or has your little break caused you to forget the rules?"

Neville felt his stomach boil from the way she looked at Luna. He wanted very much to send the sadist woman to hell where she belonged, "She was just asking for a bit of parchment." Neville shifted his stack making to hand her a normal piece knowing that it was just going to be taken away. The Carrows were cruel but they were also rather thick.

"If she didn't think to bring her own supplies to the library, perhaps she shouldn't have come?"

"It's just parchment." Neville almost stood up from his chair but a soft hand on his shoulder kept him in place.

"It's alright, sorry to disturb you, Neville," Luna picked up her book that she'd strategically placed down on the table before they were interrupted. When she picked it up she took the two-way parchment with her. She ducked her head and moved in a wide arch around the Professor before taking her seat down at the Ravenclaw table.

Neville gave the sister Carrow one more firm look before turning back to his book.