Severus started off a new week with eliminating potions that already existed and all of their intrinsic properties, as well as straight up offering her weed-killer with a Slytherin smirk hidden on his lips. He had merit to his idea, however, deciding that he would look at things potent to plants, especially lilies, which would slowly poison them out of her system, hopefully slowly enough to keep her emotions in tact.

Severus found it odd that while she was at the sea with him, during her lunch hour or when she was done with work for the evening, that she did not cough up a single petal. And while Hermione had been told to wait by Luna, she did allow Severus to theorize with her about what could be causing her lack of symptoms there.

Hermione did not live there, but she was staying for the week while he tried tests on her lungs and the petals she would bring him that still made her heart clench every time they came up.

She was very grateful, for not only the way he seemed to be in tune to her as a partner, but how dedicated he was to finding her some sort of cure or push-back that might help her. As well as the fact that he was sharing her process with her over every step that he took. It probably drove him crazy to do so, his solitude paramount, but Hermione was thankful nonetheless.

Wednesday evening, after getting out of work early for another one of her episodes, Hermione came back to Severus much more early than she had planned on. It was a great surprise to him, when she put her hands tentatively on his shoulders down in his lab, his back straightening immediately. It was the most surprise Hermione reckoned she could get from him.

"You're back early."

"Kingsley watched me cough up a couple petals and insisted that I head straight home."

"You're slightly off course," he muttered over his work, reaching for something instead of using his wand to levitate it to him. He must be rather distracted.

Hermione sighed, retracting her hands and moving to a different seat in the basement.

"I thought home was where the heart is?"

Severus stopped mechanically, looking over at her for the first time since she'd gotten there. There was nothing disapproving on his features, but there was some reservation.

"Please refrain from saying things you do not mean."

Hermione did mean it, but her hesitant nature at first meeting was poor evidence after only giving in to him a few days prior.

"In some capacity, I do," she said, attempting to sound reassuring as she stuck her head up, throwing her shoulders back.

His eyes moved over hers and then he returned back to his work unceremoniously.

"What are you working on?" Hermione wondered, hating to sit in the silence.

"Your antidote, obviously. Not much has changed since this morning, and I hate to give either of us hope. Yet I seem to have found a specific potion that has some properties to coat the lungs protectively, but I need it to also kill whatever else is inside them. There are a lot of variables, and I have also run into something, if I recall your excursions fourth year correctly, that will not bode well for your piece of mind."

"Tell me."

Severus sighed, and though it was not a command he seemed reluctant to obey, it was moreover the fact that he knew what would come of the situation and simply did not care to deal with the consequences.

"I would like to test whatever I might come up with in the future," he said and let the words hang, no need to elaborate on why such a thing would become problematic.

"Do you know where I work?"

"The Department of Magical Law Enforcement." His tone was flat, lips the same.

"Precisely," Hermione nearly screeched if it weren't for her decency.

"I haven't done anything yet."

He turned back to his work and threw something into a cauldron.

Hermione sighed, not caring to argue with him, so she told him she was going for a swim and went to his room where some of her things were.

They hadn't been swimming together yet during her stay, and she knew it was mostly because if he wasn't cooking or eating what he cooked, he was downstairs attempting to figure out a solution while it was still a prime time to get all of his theories out of the way with direct access to her. Because, eventually, she would need to return to her own flat lest rumors start and begin to circulate the area.

He wasn't going to spend all their time together like that... or so he said. This week exclusively was for testing and grabbing ahold of a basis of knowledge, something to start with. The walls wouldn't hold if the foundation wasn't laid properly.

She understood.

Hermione and he reconciled when she returned from her swim, but the rest of the night seemed filled with some type of tension that hung in the air like an anvil tied very poorly, read to drop on someone's head within seconds.

It'd never been like that before, but Hermione wasn't going to question it.

Saturday, a blissful day in which she got to wake up late, warm arms having been around her the entire night.... though they hadn't helped her sleep much. Severus would wake up in the morning and make her breakfast, though, so she assumed that day was no different when he was not there beside her when she woke.

Hermione stretched, feeling better as her muscles loosened. She would leave tomorrow for her own flat, but that was far away in her mind.

Traveling to the kitchen, she was surprised to find breakfast not Severus awaiting her, and then automatically diverted her steps to the basement. Hopefully he decided to at least spend a little of the day with her.

When she got down there, however, Hermione was shocked to see what he was doing.

There were several spiders in jars around him, and he was whispering the curse that plagued her over and over again on each one, swiftly covering roughly ten jars.

"Severus?"

He jumped, a startling reaction to them both, and Hermione felt herself pool into tears! She hated him in that moment! How dare he even do that to another animal! She was supposed to be the guinea pig, not some hapless spiders!!!

"Hermione." It was a warning, nothing much else as geo it his wand down and reach out to her.

"No! I told you I didn't want this testing to go like this-"

"They're just spiders," he hissed. "You've probably killer over a dozen."

Hermione groaned, turning away from him and not letting him come anywhere near her.

"You are being ridiculous," Severus said, sounding a lot less now like he was begging.

"No, I am not!"

"Fine! Then I shan't do anything about the curse, and I'll let you die!" He yelled, and almost immediately, when she turned on him and made a face like she might cry, his own features fell stoic. "I don't want that."

"Don't you?" She retorted, feeling mightily perturbed and completely over the entire situation.

"No, you dunderheaded witch!"

Hermione was over it. She didn't like being called names and fled up the stairs, her breathe heavier than her footsteps which were not kind to his beautiful wood floors. Maybe it was best she left it, him, and just stopped bothering everyone. It was probably for the better.

There was such a haze over her mind that she hadn't realized Severs followed her until she was halfway packed, turning back to find him standing there with and annoyed look about him.

"And where are you going? You're set to stay another day, and-"

"I refuse to stay another day here! Ever! Gods," she mumbled, looking into his eyes for the first time in a few minutes.

The impassive black only aggravated her more.

When her feet hit the ground of her flat, as well as the blissful air, Hermione realized what had happened before she even began to cough up a single flower petal. For some reason, the lack of coughing up petals has stifled her ability to love, and simultaneously, her ability to forgive, apparently.

She's just stormed out on Severus for no other reason than her bloody curse, which was why she was there in the first place. What a week it had truly turned out to be. Hermione discovered that she couldn't even spend a week with someone she cared about before loosing all ability to care for them.

Merlin, what was wrong with her?

She needed to see Luna as soon as possible, and then Severus right after... but not at the sea, the sea might only cause more problems.

A/N

Twenty points to whoever can guess why Hermione was acting up at Severus's house.

And also a quick apology for the delayed update. My week and some days has been... hectic to say the least. We're all going through it right now though, hopefully this helps brighten up your day (night?) anyways! Hope you enjoyed!