A Fate Worse Than Death

Disclaimers as per previous chapters

Chapter Ten: Sleepwalking towards Disaster. Chapter revised 260606

SsHGss

Professor Severus Snape was not a morning person. The preparation of Potions required by the school, and for his own use, had to be fitted in after school hours. The creation of a complicated potion could last well into the night. It was not unusual for the light of early dawn to be glowing over the nearby hills as he finished his work. There were also the many nocturnal activities that had become so frequent since the Tri-Wizard tournament had taken place two years before. An early morning habit was therefore only forced upon him by the school routine.

Supervising breakfast in the Great Hall did offer a few limited compensations. It was definitely the most peaceful of the meals taken at Hogwarts. This was simply due to the fact that the average student was most definitely not a morning person either.

Subsequently Snape had eased himself into his customary position at the High table overlooking Slytherin, to a quiet background murmur of students' voices accompanied by clinks of crockery. It was just as well, he reflected to himself, as he was suffering from a nagging headache and indeed the sight of the mostly fried breakfast items piled up before him in such abundance was threatening to turn his stomach.

Whatever possessed me to drink a glass of Fire whiskey on my return from my summons last night? That is something that I never normally do – at least during term time and with a double session of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw First years awaiting me this morning.

His jug of coffee, prepared to exacting specifications by the Hogwarts house elves, steamed gently before him but he reached for a glass of orange juice first and selected some dry toast in an effort to overcome his nausea.

There was a flurry of excitement along the tables as a flock of owls made their appearance, bringing the morning post. The commotion died down as students settled to read and unwrap their deliveries. All except at the head of the Hufflepuff table. There a disturbance arose as one of the young witches attempted to grab at a pink owl that was fluttering above her head, holding a parchment tied in red trailing ribbons. The sight was provoking much laughter among the other girls seated at adjacent tables and the young witch was blushing furiously. Snape looked more closely and recognised the long blonde tresses and well-grown form of Susan Bones, a Sixth year Hufflepuff. He also recognised, with a twinge of amusement, the little pink owl.

Obviously a new subscriber, he thought watching her as she started to climb onto the table to catch the exasperating little bird, who is woefully unaware that you can arrange for delivery to the privacy of your own bed. The sight of the owl brought back fond memories. The greatest aid to a teenage boy's attempts at seduction at Hogwarts has always been to know the contents of the latest issue of Pink Owl!

Susan was now trying to jump up and down to grab the parchment. Snape observed that this was causing her breasts to jiggle in a most satisfying manner And all the rest of that beautifully pert little body, he thought and then caught himself in shock as he realised that the sight of the bouncing girl was having the same effect on himself as it was obviously having on the awestruck boys nearest to her.

Susan at last managed to take hold of the parchment and scrambled quickly down from the table. She set off at a near run for the nearest door followed by a couple of her friends who were too incapacitated by laughter to be of any help to the mortified girl.

The little pink owl gave a soft hoot and departed.

Snape watched her run while trying to control his breathing. He could not believe that he had just been looking at one of his students in the same manner as the much younger men in the hall before him.

He had always schooled himself, without any effort, to look upon them all as a bunch of dim nuisances, put there to frustrate his attempts to teach the most delicate of the magical arts. Many were the times that he had felt himself to be in a never-ending battle to combat the effects of teenage hormones among the students in a futile attempt to keep them in a rational enough state to learn.

He would never contemplate looking at any of them in any other way (although recently he would have to admit to himself that there had been a single exception!) And yet here he was feeling as hormonal as a teenager and uncomfortable to boot.

"Settle down, Hufflepuff, settle down. The excitement is over!"

Madame Pomona Sprout, seated a little further up the table, admonished her House who were still buzzing over the incident. Severus looked at her as she leaned slightly towards him while giving a quiet chuckle.

"I see that Pink Owl is still in business, Severus. That was always a little bit of fun to enliven the Girl's bedrooms but, as poor Susan has discovered, that is where it belongs."

Snape gazed at the frizzy haired witch before him, her dimples and sparkling eyes reminders of the young girl that she had once been.

Yes, I can imagine you curled up in your bed with the curtains drawn, opening the parchment with trembling anticipation and preparing for a little personal session. Did you smell of the fresh spring even then? Oh Great Heavens! This is Sprout man!

Severus realised hazily that he was thinking and feeling about Pomona in a particularly explicit fashion. This was unsupportable. It may have been a while since he had visited a certain establishment in Hogsmeade that catered for the needs of bachelor wizards but he had never been aware of being reduced to this level of need before.

Only someone who knew Snape very well, and they were very few, would have recognised the red tinge to the edge of his cheeks as the embarrassment that he was feeling.

He looked out across the Hall once more, almost desperate to cast his gaze away from Madame Sprout. He also had to avoid looking at the older female students as it was becoming impossible not to focus on their obvious curves even hidden by robes as they were. Dammit! He was becoming impossibly hard and his hand shook very slightly as he took another sip of his orange juice.

His look fell upon a group of 7th year boys deep in the throws of a Quidditch discussion, initiated by a batch of new Quidditch publications that had just arrived. His momentary peace was soon shattered as he realised that the sight of them was not dampening his ardour indeed he was enjoying their rugged young looks.

Hellfire! What is happening to me?

A very unusual feeling of panic was gaining control over Snape but he was too experienced a wizard not to suddenly feel a twinge of suspicion at the change in his emotional state. He looked at the glass of orange juice in his hand.

Surely none of the little monsters has dared ……? Even the Weasley twins never tried a prank like this.

Anger swept through him, temporarily banishing his other emotions. His black gaze raked the Hall. He knew that students playing tricks could never resist lingering at the site of their misdemeanour's to witness the fun and they would be totally unable to resist seeing the successful administration of a Love Potion to Professor Snape.

But there were no guilty looks, no rapid glances away from his gaze; nobody was dissolving into fits of giggles. With the excitement of the pink owl over, the students had returned their attention to breakfast and getting ready for the day ahead.

Finally his eyes rested upon one student who was watching him intently, puzzlement clearly written across her face. Hermione Granger was seated a little way down the Gryffindor table, her breakfast growing cold before her as she stared at the Head of Slytherin House.

Her rosebud lips were parted in a soft O, wisps of her long curly hair were trailing across her forehead in the most appealing manner. She was even leaning forward slightly exposing sweet curves to his view. Severus gazed raptly at her; his blood was suddenly pounding with desire.

Just five minutes alone in the dungeons together. I'd throw her across my desk and give her such a good Seeing To!

His awareness of the rest of the hall was fading he was burninginside. Suddenly, a nauseating feeling of lassitude rippled across his body from the Dark Mark on his arm. The clash of the two opposing forces left him almost dizzy. Snape stood abruptly – he had to get out of the Hall, the feelings he was experiencing were unbearable.

He fled for the dungeons, heedless of the surprised glances that his obvious state of agitation had caused.

ssHGss

Hermione was puzzled. She was so puzzled that she had become unaware that she was gaping open mouthed at the behaviour of Professor Snape. Firstly he had arrived much later than usual – most of the students were already in the hall. And he had looked – terrible! Worse even than when she knew he had attended a Death Eater meeting. She had watched him sit down and look with obvious distaste at the breakfast set out before him.

She had been waiting for him to come in. She had been so worried when he had left abruptly the night before. The summons had felt so wrong. It had taken her a long time to fall asleep. The events of the past few weeks had kept running through her mind as she searched for something that would support her intuition that Professor Snape had been caught in a trap. She needed to show him her memories in the Pensieve and was anxious to make sure that the feeling of dread that had hung over her since the previous evening had no foundation.

Hermione was distracted by the arrival of a flock of owls in the hall. A tawny owl flying with practised efficiency swooped down and dropped her copy of The Daily Prophet with a soft thump on the table before her. She unrolled the paper and quickly scanned the front page noting, with the usual twinge of disappointment, that when it came to combating Voldemort, inertia reigned as usual among the wizarding community.

She was distracted by a whoop of laughter from a nearby table and turned to see Susan Bones desperately trying to reach for a parchment held just out of a reach by a well known little owl.

Oh Susan! Only in Hufflepuff would your friends not think to check whether you had asked for private delivery and they are not being much use now, Hermione thought as she looked at the scene before her. She then became aware that the boys seated at the Hufflepuff tables and indeed at the other tables were watching the sight of Susan jumping to catch the owl with a very particular interest.

Oh really. You would think that they could control themselves a little by now. How do they ever expect to do magic that requires concentration?

Hermione averted her gaze. She was never one to take part in adding to someone's misery like this and was not about to start. She glanced back at the teachers' table to see if Snape had settled to any breakfast and was riveted by a new and amazing sight. Like everyone else, Professor Snape was watching the antics at the Hufflepuff table. But the sneer of irritation that Hermione would have expected to see on his face was entirely absent. Instead he was watching Susan with a very intense expression. Hermione recognised that one from a few frantic encounters with overexcited boys. I don't believe it. He looks as though he's undressing her with his eyes and his intentions are not honourable!

She saw the realisation hit Snape and a confused expression swept his face. Hermione continued to watch him intently as first he looked at Madame Sprout and then out across the Hall. What is wrong with him? I've never seen him look unsure of anything before – he normally covers up his emotions with anger. A little bit of Hermione was nagging that she knew too much about how to read Snape's emotional state. But she continued to watch with fascination as he now looked at his glass of orange juice and then a familiar expression of anger made his black eyes glitter. Only Hermione seemed aware of this little drama. Around her the rest of the hall continued with their normal breakfast, all as oblivious as Ron and Harry beside her that their Potions Professor was acting so oddly.

Snape was now looking across the Hall with a furious expression on his face, which was causing Hermione even more puzzlement. Finally his gaze fell on her and she became aware of a most intense scrutiny. The sort of scrutiny that was unmistakable in its intent. Her cheeks burned and her breath hitched in her throat as she became aware that his face was suffused with lust. His eyes were devouring her – she felt as though they were the only two people in the hall. Hermione had never been the focus of anything of this intensity and she was feeling pinned in place by his stare, unable to move, when Snape suddenly rose to his feet, threw back his chair and headed with quick steps for the teachers' exit from the Hall.

Hermione found herself on her feet too. No way was she going to let Snape vanish into the dungeons after that little display! There was something wrong with him and the feeling that had swept her last night had returned with full force. If she went out of the main entrance she would be able to intercept her Professor in the corridor that ran parallel to the Hall. She muttered a garbled excuse to Ron and Harry about needing another textbook and walked as quickly as she could to the back of the Hall. She moved quickly out through the doors and round into the side corridor.

Sure enough the figure of Snape was hurrying towards her. He had not seen her; He was cradling his left arm with his right hand and was looking at it, a puzzled expression on his face.

Hermione positioned herself in the middle of the corridor. She was not going to let him fly by without a word this time.

"Are you alright Professor?"

His reaction was very strange! He backed hastily away from her until he collided with the wall and stood there as though pinned, his long fingers braced across the stonework.

"Yes, of course I am, you silly girl." Snape snarled through gritted teeth while fixing his gaze on the section of corridor wall several feet above her head.

Hermione quickly glanced up to see what he was looking at – nothing! Snape was paler than usual, breathing quickly and his forehead was clearly beaded with sweat. He was studiously avoiding looking at her. It was alarming to see him like this.

"I ……must go." he muttered and went to push past her, keeping close to the corridor wall.

Hermione almost went to grab at his sleeve she was so desperate to make him stop but her natural respect for a teacher's authority held her back. She had also been unsettled by the way he had looked at her. But he is getting away.

"Professor Snape," she shouted. "What about the Pensieve? You were going to help me this morning to look at the memory of Lucius Malfoy and the Potion ingredients. Have you forgotten?"

Snape stopped so abruptly that his robes continued to swirl about his black clad legs.

"Lucius? What! There… was a Potion?" he muttered hoarsely.

Hermione caught up to him, looking into his distracted face with alarm. Suddenly he looked at her his face going very stiff. His hand shot out and grabbed Hermione's forearm with an agonising grip. With his other hand he shoved open the door of the nearest classroom and pulled her in.

It was empty. The lines of desks had been pulled back to clear a demonstration area by the blackboard. Snape released Hermione by the door as though her touch stung him and strode forward to the front of the class where he began to pace quickly to and fro. He seemed to be talking to himself and ignoring her but when she went to step forward his head shot up.

"No! Stand there…Stay there!" Snape hissed.

He finally slowed and came to a stop and seemed to draw himself up slightly, regaining his composure.

Snape now glanced at the puzzled Hermione, his expression almost wary.

"Miss Granger, I …apologise for my unusual behaviour. I seem to remember your concern when I was summoned but my memory is not clear. Your comment just now has triggered a fragment of memory that is at odds with what I remember from last night. Other events have been taking place this morning that suggest that I may have been subject to an unknown spell. Through no fault of your own you are the last person that I wish to see at this particular moment but I suspect that you may be the most suitable to help me."

Hermione made her way between the desks, amazed at Snape's comments. He waved her to a stop a few feet from where he was standing.

"I imagine that you are aware of the advanced Reveal charm?" Hermione nodded. "I wish you to perform a variation with the words nocens hex inserted before the last aperio. One repetition with each wand movement. Wand movement is the same as the basic body scry and must be continued for a full revolution." Hermione nodded again. "Good, I suspected that you would understand perfectly. Proceed."

Snape now stood still and silent in the centre of the classroom. Hermione drew her wand and began to murmur the charm while tracing the magical lines across his lean body as she walked around him. When he had done this to her the previous evening, nothing had happened but this time she was immediately aware of a magical reaction. The air about Snape's body began to glow, a shimmer of light appeared, at first a light green in colour but the colour continued to deepen until it was a coruscating emerald. Only an effort of will allowed Hermione to continue to utter the charm until it was complete. She finished and the green light slowly dissipated.

Snape was looking down at his hands where the last whips of emerald light were slowly vanishing. He now looked up at her, a shocked expression on his face.

"I fear Miss Granger," he murmured faintly, "that I am discovered!"

Hermione was silent. She was filled with dismay. That green glow had signified very dark magic. Just as she had feared, something had happened to Snape last night and he had obviously not been aware until this moment.

"I do not remember what truly happened last night. But I do not think that this is due to an Obliviate. I know only too well the magical signature of that spell! I want you to cast an advanced Dispellation charm. I must know now what has been done. Try a Dispell Conceal, it will require full power – do not hesitate Miss Granger. I suspect that I cannot be harmed any further."

Hermione summoned her considerable concentration and cast the charm. She was watching Snape intently, his eyes had flickered shut. Her magic faded slowly away and she watched her Professor who continued to stand there like a statue for long moments.

Finally Snape opened his eyes. They were filled with horror.

T.B.C.

Authors Note: I've been asked how this plot came about. In short I read a couple of VERY dark angsty Snape fics (which it would be inappropriate to list here) that suggested how vulnerable Snape is in the position that he has chosen to play. After all Voldemort isn't above personally torturing and trying to murder a 14-year-old boy (GOF) and that is in a book aimed (mainly) at children! After I got into reading and enjoying HG/SS fics I came across many of a type that could be classified as Hermione In Peril At The Hands Of Voldemort/Death Eaters And Rescued By Snape! My warped mind pondered over a reversal of the usual story and behold a very powerful plot bunny jumped up fully formed! I will frankly admit that even I was surprised at what happened when Evil!Lucius! took over chapter Nine – I might have to keep him locked in a box for future chapters.

But I promise NO non-con, no graphic scenes and the emphasis IS on Hermione and Severus.

West Dean