Senses

Chapter 10

Severus looked up from the chair he'd created to make himself comfortable inside her sitting space. He'd carried her from the bedroom to the sitting area before lowering her back to rest on a small pile of cushions and pillows. She'd remained as she'd been lain for quite sometime. Merely extending out her arms to explore the new space.

Severus set aside one of the many lesson plans that had been changed to fit Voldemort's more nefarious agenda before just leaning forward to take her in. She was still thin but her arms and legs seemed to be able to support her well enough. She was still wearing a robe but this one was more of an over the head sort of style, like an elaborate night gown. It fit her frame well and didn't restrict nor reveal any part of her that was in any way demeaning. Her hair was starting to shine again, the health of the regrown locks evident.

She was taller than he would have expected, though having carried her enough times, it was more evident now as she stretched out. Her face was relaxed, peaceful even. Though every once and a while she'd scratch just under the ear he'd put the potion into and make a very familiar face. The face she often made when she had been concentrating in class or on a complex problem. He recognized it because it was the face he most often saw.

Her face, though still rather thin, did not look childish any longer. No, despite his continued reference to her inside his mind as a girl, she was most definitely a child no longer. No, she was becoming something more and it was he who had given her the chance to find out for herself what that would be.

A deep sigh left his chest as he set his things aside, "Miss Granger, can you hear me?"

Hermione turned her head towards a deep rumbling sound that came to her bandaged ear. Curious, she touched her hand to the cotton inside before shifting her body towards where she believed the sound to have originated. A new sensation, a small tremor through the floor beneath told her that whatever had made the sound was growing closer. This caught her attention and she carefully pushed herself up just a bit straighter.

Hands—his hands— came next pulling her palms into his. Her head tilted to the side when a similar deep rumble came again. Curious she reached out of his hold, using her newly acquired sense to reach towards where she believed the sound to originate. When her fingers met soft thinned lips, her lips ticked and she tilted her head up.

Severus narrowed his eyes marginally, her face begged a question but with her eyes closed he could just barely feel her curiosity. Then, as though granted insight from an outside force, he spoke again.

"Miss Granger, can you hear me?"

Her fingers stayed on the outside of his mouth, his breath wafting over her small digits. Her brow furrowed and her fingers ran down the line of his jaw, tracing the high collar of his jacket. Her head leaned in dangerously close to his own before lowering down under his chin. She pressed her good ear just beneath his jaw and went still, desperately trying to discern the significance of this new sensation.

Severus spoke again, though this time, just her name. She was uncomfortably close but he was just as curious as she was and thus let it pass. His head tilted just a little when her hand pressed over his chest and he would have guessed that she could feel his words vibrating through. She was obviously hearing something, to what he was unsure. The alternative—that she'd forgotten her own name— something he didn't even want to contemplate.

Hermione pulled back as the feeling passed. Her brow still lined with deep thought. It had been so long since she'd heard anything, that she feared that she had lost the ability to understand the spoken word. The fear was barely given attention when hands had come again, running down the lines of her jaw. A soft content sigh passed her lips and she turned her head to their guidance.