Severus
Chapter Eight
Severus
He hadn't been so bloody tired in years. Hermione had wormed her way into helping him research the anomalies occurring in the castle. Minerva had thought it would be a 'fine idea'. The meddlesome witch. He didn't miss the smirk she had tried to hold back after delivering the verdict that he and Hermione would work together since she seemed to be the only one getting caught in the bubbles. Severus absolutely did not appreciate Minerva imparting that particular bit of information to Hermione. It was embarrassing enough that she was there. The chit was constantly coming to him with different theories and she always seemed to want to test them immediately. Always running up to him between classes and during meals. He supposed her impertinence knew no bounds. All of this research meant late nights on top of their teaching duties and rounds. Although he had to admit, she did have some decent theories, the possibility of time working differently inside the anomaly was quite intriguing. Hermione had mentioned that it had felt like she'd been stuck for over four hours when, Severus assumed based on his knowledge of when he began to feel the energy of that particular anomaly, she had only been isolated for just over an hour, possibly less. Given the frequency of the occurrences he couldn't deny that Hermione's help would be useful. With Christmas break approaching they would have plenty of time to dissect her theories without further disturbances to his sleep schedule.
The constant chatter of his students would never cease to annoy him. If it weren’t for Minerva insisting that he stay on until they’ve sorted out the goings on at Hogwarts he would have never stayed on. As it happened each year the closer it got to the holiday break the more his students seemed to scramble. It was as though they thought he’d send howlers home so their parents could berate them properly before the festivities began. He smirked. Not that the idea wasn’t intriguing. Sending his students to the library during their free periods wasn’t cutting it anymore. Now each student needed a more hands on approach-as if there wasn’t enough for him to do. He began a study hall after his last class of the day left. During which he would grade papers as his students worked through whatever they were having trouble with. The ability for them to ask questions more directly helped their skills improve immensely. By the end of the week the students returned to their homes for the holiday with a better understanding and Severus managed to keep his sanity in tact.
The drop in the castle temperature was quite irksome. Although he had gotten used to the cold whether at the castle over the years it seemed to effect him more so now than it had previously. While his joints weren't achy like they had been after all the wear he put his body through during the war he still felt stiff. Knowing how tense his body had been helped him to prioritize his health while he had this second chance. For him that meant he ran every morning. That is, now that he couldn’t swim. Not that he hadn’t tried to continue, the ice chunks in the freezing water had started to make it exceedingly difficult. So, he resorted to running. The frigid castle air burned his throat as he began making his way down to the bridge. Now that the students were out for the holidays he supposed he could take his time, even extend his usual hour if he wanted to. Although it wouldn’t be long before Hermione stumbled upon him. He couldn’t complete his morning exercise without her appearing at some point. Usually he listened as she kept pace behind him, he’d even occasionally- alright-frequently- test if she was matching him by changing his pace suddenly. She seemed to be the only witch or wizard besides himself that had the discipline to continue exercising outdoors through the harsh Scottish weather. He found that to be an admirable trait in the curly haired witch. In fact when he thought about it Hermione had come to posses more than a few admirable traits since his departure and subsequent return. She was no longer the loud know-it-all that waved her hand about his classroom that he remembered her as, rather she seemed to realize that her ability to solve a problem was often greatly improved by the help of others. He couldn’t fault her for her hunger for knowledge, it was just her choice in companions as a child that was questionable. Hermione's thirst for knowledge rivaled his own when he actually spent a moment to think about it. He could almost imagine her face if she ever saw his library at Spinners End. The thought brought a slight smile to his lips. Hermione would come in through the front door, hanging her unnecessarily Gryffindor red scarf on the coat rack as she shrugged out of her bulky outer layer. She would shake the heavy wet snow off her hair and look up at him with her sparkling brown eyes. After he led her through to the sitting room that doubled as his library she would reach out and stroke the spines of his collection, breathing in the smell of the old tomes with a sigh before she turned and beamed at him with her bright eyes and wide smile. He could picture himself smiling back at her, the way she would grasp his forearms and exclaim with joy about how absolutely wonderful the library was, possibly asking about his undetectable extension charms. He could picture the way she would gaze up at him and sigh as she leaned further into his space. The way he would stroke the underside of her elbows, brushing his hands up her arms and along her sides to cup her by the waist and lean down, closing the distance between-
“Good morning, Severus!” Hermione called out to him from several paces behind him. Jarring him out of what he could only assume was a temporary bout of insanity.
Severus took a deep breath and let out a large puff of air before he began to sprint. These days exercising usually cleared his mind. It was unusual to have his thoughts become so erratic and clearly unstable. Occlumency had always been a necessity for the better part of his adult life. Now that he didn’t need to hide every event, and tear apart each facet of his life based on whomever he was in the presence of, he found that he usually chose not to use the art. Regretting the decision he clearly needed to make adjustments to his methods. Most often he found that his brain naturally functioned in a similar way, whether that was the result of the years of forced compartmentalization or just how his brain naturally processed information he didn’t particularly care. Severus felt a bit childish as he quite literally ran away from his problems however he did not think interacting with Hermione at the moment would be productive. Severus felt a blush creep up his neck as he thought about the direction his daydream had clearly been heading. She was his co-worker and his former student, there was no place for such fantasies in his head or out of it. He tried to empty his mind for the rest of his run, trying desperately to keep ahead of Hermione. The running path allowed him that peace until it came time to turn around in his usual spot or continue on and hope Hermione didn't follow him. With a sigh he turned and began running back towards the castle. It didn’t take long before she managed to wave him down. He would have to be an absolute ass to ignore her completely when she was standing in front of him, cheeks and nose blazing red from the cold. She panted heavily and Severus had to close his eyes to center himself before he could ask her what it was that she needed.
“Your speed has picked up, usually I can catch up to you before too long!” Hermione grinned at him, gasping loudly between words.
Severus blinked. “You try to keep up with me?” He had trouble figuring out why she would choose to openly admit that she was following him again.
“Well yeah, you run quite a bit faster than I tend to manage. It seemed like a good idea to try and push my skill level by matching your pace.” Hermione mentioned casually before freezing. “Godric, I apologize Severus. You probably think I’m an absolute lunatic chasing after you!”
“Ahh, no. I was caught off guard for a moment is all. That makes perfect sense.” He looked away, suddenly feeling a bit dizzy as though he got up too fast. His magic pulled him back towards the castle. Another anomaly had formed.
Hermione dropped her quill... again. While muttering about muggle pens she scooped it up, her stack of books shuffling precariously with her ink pot and parchment. Righting her stack of chaos before continuing she cleared her throat and looked up at Severus expectantly. Having watched her juggle the armload of unnecessary tomes for the better part of five minutes he scoffed and continued to work on removing the current anomaly. "You are aware of the existence of floating charms are you not?" He frowned as he continued to run diagnostic spells on the anomaly they were currently working on. “As the charms mistress one would hope you held a certain level of ability on the subject.”
She sighed. "The constant shifting as I use the items makes that difficult as I'm sure you're aware. It's not as though balancing these books alongside my wand, the parchment, quill, and ink pot is easy. What I wouldn't give for a pen or Merlin even a pencil!" She shook her head as she straightened everything out once again. “Granted I probably don’t need to bring all of the books with me…it’s only… I find my notes are more accurate when I can check my research as we have moments between each individual examination. I don’t want to miss anything.”
Severus blinks back the image of Hermione's mouth on a muggle pen with a shake of his head. Blushing slightly Hermione blinks at the sound of him clearing his throat.
“I suppose I can understand that. Perhaps conjuring a table would be of use?” Without looking in her direction he waved his wand he transfigured a nearby bench into a table large enough for her books and turned back to the present anomaly. He hadn’t seen one quite this sizable before now. As he studied the bubble he missed Hermione’s cheeks flame red as she gazed at him for a moment while he worked.
“Thank you.” She managed to get out before she turned to her books once again. “Perhaps we would benefit if I entered the anomaly once again?” It was clear Hermione was quite determined to gather as many facets of information that she could.
“I don’t believe that would be wise Miss. Granger.” He sighed once again. “We do not need to collect any more data that actively puts you at risk, the best way to prove yourself useful would be to continue compiling data from the exterior.”