Senses

Chapter 9

The night had been long, longer than Severus could care to acknowledge. He'd held Granger until he'd felt her body retreat back into sleep. He'd given her the potion designed to remove any withdrawal symptoms from the vile drug that Wormtail had been giving her. The potion had taken it's course while he'd put her into a forced sleep. Letting her body ride out the pain with blissful unconsciousness.

Severus had worked tirelessly through the night, meticulously packing away anything he wouldn't want found by either side. Squarreling it safely inside the suitcase he'd gotten from Albus' abandoned home.

He'd separated the world inside the suitcase into two halves. A safe place to store what he would need that couldn't be easily accessed and a more open world for her to explore. He'd made half walls to divide her sleeping area, bathing area and toilet as well as a small sitting space where—when she was capable—be able to relax without having to be in a bed.

He hadn't even considered the fact that she'd be unable to stand or walk until he'd been designing the space. She'd done well lifting her head and moving, but he wasn't so confident in her coordination. Though given her lack of senses he believed it to presently for the best and had designed everything in the sitting area to be on the floor. Hoping that she could at the very least crawl.

Presently, she laid inside the large double bed, her potions locked away in a cabinet with her special cup at her bedside table. He'd tried to keep everything similar to what she'd known upstairs in his room, even going so far as to charm a light source to burn for nearly 12 hours, syncing with the daylight outside.

It was the perfect prison.

Now Severus sat at his desk at Hogwarts. Sipping a much needed cup of coffee as he waited for the twins to arrive. He'd charmed a mirror on his desk to allow him to see inside the small world he'd created, giving him peace of mind over the girl's health.

He could tell she was just starting to come around by her hands weakly coming up towards her head. Her brow furrowed as she seemed to take immediate notice of the change around her. She was indeed a clever girl.

Her hand came down fiddling with the chain on her necklace before her other hand reached out blindly. He had plans to work on her hearing that day but he needed to ensure his efforts went uninterrupted.

As if on cue, the wards near the front gates alerted him to a request for his presence and he quickly closed the connection on the mirror. Coming to his feet, he made his way out of the office to usher in a new reign of terror within the hallowed walls.

oOo

Hermione instantly knew that the world around her had changed. Gone was the thick stale air of the world she had come to know. Her heart raced as her senses struggled to orient to the new space. The air smelled clear and fresh, as though she were outside again but lacked the sort of earthy smell that came with it. Instead, the air had a lingering lavender to it; a source to which she discovered to be the linens that covered her.

The space was warm but not unpleasantly so. It was just the right temperature to be comfortable though lacked any breeze that would have come should she have truly been outside. She could feel the heat of a light warming the skin of her arms to her right, reminiscent of the feeling she got from the window. She had reached out hesitantly to the side and had been pleasantly surprised to find a cup.

Her body felt odd, the ever present fullness that brought her pain and pleasure had gone. A lingering memory of fingers soothing away the burn inside her instantly flashed through her mind space and she found herself reaching between her legs; despite the possible danger the action could have brought. She moved cautiously under the blanket, her heart thumping as though she were about to steal the most precious gemstone in the world.