The Serpent's Kiss

Chapter Four: Curses and Weasel Men

The next time Hermione woke, it was caused by the feeling of a hand brushing hers. When she finally managed to crack open her eyes, she was met with the sight of Snape standing over her. She startled, and his eyes narrowed in response.

"I am going to breakfast now. Don't be late; Headmistress McGonagall is expecting you."

She lay there a moment longer until she heard the painting close behind him. Hermione groaned and buried her face in the pillow. She was so exhausted that she didn't think she would have the energy to get out of bed. Hermione's stomach rumbled loudly.

Food was a good incentive.

She rolled out of bed, went to her trunk to gather her clothes, and trotted off to the bathroom to begin her morning routine. When it was complete, she searched around the sitting room for some parchment, ink, and a quill. Hermione hastily wrote a letter to the Weasley family, explaining where she was. She made her excuses and asked Ginny to watch over Crookshanks for her.

Her heart ached to tell them the truth. Surely, they would have some comforting words for her. But she saw McGonagall's point. The fewer people who knew about this predicament, the better. She didn't want to think about what would happen if the wrong person found out. She pocketed the letter and set off on the long journey to the Great Hall.

As she trudged through the open doors of the hall, she noticed McGonagall beckoning her to the staff table. Sometimes, some of the other workers would join them for meals, but so far, the hall was empty except for Hermione and the staff members.

"Have a seat, my dear," the headmistress told her as she pointed to the chair to her left. Severus, looking rather bitter, sat to McGonagall's right. She gave Hermione a moment to be seated and help herself to a bagel before asking, "How are you feeling, Miss Granger?"

Hermione squirmed in her seat as every eye at the table fixed on her. "I feel fine, for now. The pain still comes and goes. And ..." she trailed off uneasily as she met Snape's eyes.

"There's been a new development," he supplied. "It seems," he lowered his voice even though there was no one to overhear him, "as though there is another effect. Miss Granger must be obedient. To me."

There was an outbreak of muttering along the table. McGonagall's lips pursed and she gave a deep sigh. "This is simply awful. I am so sorry that you're in this position, Miss Granger. And Severus, I'm sure I don't have to tell you to have caution when you speak."

"Of course, Minerva," he replied. He was staring at the plate in front of him, pushing the food around but not eating it.

"I'm afraid that I've some more bad news," the headmistress continued. "I've had a chat with Albus, and he agreed with my belief that we are dealing with some sort of dark curse. Unfortunately, he doesn't know which one it could be."

Hermione's stomach dropped. She had been holding out hope that the former headmaster would know what they were dealing with. It hadn't really occurred to her that he might never have encountered it either. Dumbledore had always seemed so omniscient. Even beyond the grave.

"Now, Miss Granger," McGonagall began as she rested her stern gaze on the young woman. "Do you have any idea who did this?"

Hermione met Snape's gaze once more. She cleared her throat and then proceeded to tell her of the events that had transpired in The Hog's Head.

There was fire in the older woman's eyes. "Well, those are very suspicious circumstances. Dominic Atherton, really? I think I recall Albus having a few unpleasant encounters with that weasel. The Ministry should have thrown him behind bars a long time ago. I'm going to write the Minister immediately. I trust that everyone will be discrete with this information."

There was a lot of nodding and murmurs of agreement. McGonagall stood to leave and then turned back to Hermione once more. "I assume you will be continuing with the repairs. I think it would be best if the two of you remained in close proximity to one another." Then, she turned once more and headed towards the door.

Professor Snape stood and followed the headmistress. "I'll be working on the classrooms on the first floor," he called back to her.

After finishing her breakfast, she excused herself to the Owlery. Once her letter was off in the claws of a great tawny owl, she made the trek back down to the first floor. Cursing how large the castle was the whole way there.

Hermione had to search several classrooms before she found the one Snape was working in. Snape stood at the far end, his wand raised. She watched the fluid movements of his arm as he levitated bits of the ceiling back into place. It was a bit ... hypnotic.

She shook herself out of her trance and glanced around, wondering where to begin. The room was quite damaged; there was rubble from where sections of the ceiling had fallen and the windows were all shattered. And every piece of furniture was either broken or on its side.

Hermione made her way to the nearest window, deciding to start there. She pointed her wand to the shards of glass, said the incantation, and watched as they rose up into the air and drifted into place. She repeated the motion until the window was whole once more, and then she moved on to the next.

She tried to focus on what she was doing, so that she didn't have to think about her situation. But the work was tedious and she was quickly bored. So, her mind began to replay the events of the past few days.

Hermione agreed with the others' belief that Atherton had cursed her. Who else could it have been? Since the Ministry would soon be involved, they would be able to locate him quickly. Once he was in custody, they would be able to remove the curse. And she could get on with her life.

Everything would work out. It had to. She just had to be patient.

She had finished with an entire wall of windows when she heard footsteps. Hermione turned slightly and saw that Severus stood behind her. He had removed his dark robes and now wore just a white button up shirt and black trousers. She could see the scar that Nagini had left, pale and shiny, peeking out from his collar.

Hermione felt the blood rush to her cheeks. She had never seen him out of his robes before and there was something strangely intimate about it. Of course, she understood his reason; it was rather warm in this room. Still, she had to take a deep breath before she turned to face him fully.

"It's been a couple of hours," he explained, his hand outstretched. She reached out and their hands glided across each other. And then it was over and he had moved back to his side of the room.

The rest of the day passed in silence, with the exception of mealtimes. They were, of course, spent discussing the curse and its effects. They made no further progress on the subject, though.

At the end of the day, she followed Snape back to his quarters. He went to one of the many bookshelves and pulled down a heavy tome. "I'm going to do a little research of my own. I don't trust those dunderheads down at the Ministry to do it properly. How any of them got their jobs, I will never know."

Hermione watched him sink gracefully into a chair and prop the book open on his knee. She felt that awkward squirming again and she cleared her throat. "I think I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight, Professor."

He nodded his head, his eyes still on his book. "I'll let you know if I find anything."

She dragged herself to her bed, which she fell in without even changing her clothes. She didn't have enough energy to care anymore. Hermione didn't think she'd ever been this tired. The exhaustion had seeped into her very soul.

She didn't want to think about curses or weasel men or her professor anymore. She closed her eyes and fell into a fitful sleep.