Senses

Chapter 28

"If you have come to kill me, you have failed." His words would have frozen over a desert. His eyes burned with power that even he had no idea he possessed. The spell that left his wand crumpled the shocked woman to the floor, her wand sailing up into his hand that had done the deed.

He hadn't killed her, but she would have a killer headache when she came to. His own body reminded him just how vulnerable he had been. How easily someone had gotten in. True she wasn't just anyone, but she was unwelcome all the same. A soft cough turned his attention down to the girl at his hip, her lips were an odd blue hue that he was certain hadn't been there before.

With his would-be assassin temporarily dealt with, he pushed himself up further before rolling the girl beside him onto her back. His head was still heavy with the effects of the potion due to stay in his system for at least six more hours. Leaving his limbs heavy and fumbling. As he pressed his fingers to her neck, he found that her pulse was strong and steady.

Taking her chin in his hand he tilted her head back further as another weak cough passed her lips, it was like she was choking on something but what? Another shift pressed his wand into her throat and with a spell designed to help drowning victims, he attempted to free her airway.

Her body lurched with a rather deep cough and his brows furrowed even further when a small orb fell out of her mouth and onto the sheets between them. Hermione let out another soft series of coughs before taking a deep breath, her brows furrowing but she did not wake, rather she turned her head into her hand and let out a soft sigh, another curious curiosity.

With a glance down to ensure that Minerva was still out cold, he caught the small orb in his fingers trying to see what it was in the dimmed lights. Not having any luck, he set the small orb aside to take care of more pressing matters.

Severus called a shirt from the closet just in time for the single portrait in the room to fill with the last man he wanted to see in the middle of the night. Another quick glance to Granger assured him that she was resting normally before he turned his body to face the man.

"I didn't kill her."

"And for that I am grateful but Severus, something must be done."

"You do realize that if Granger's nails digging into my scar hadn't woken me, I'd be very much dead and you would have lost the only idiot willing to lie to the Dark Lord."

"Your grievance is noted." Albus returned the dark-haired man's glare with one of his own, "An obliviate won't work, she's much too headstrong. I need to speak with her, alone."

"If you are suggesting that I work with the woman who just moments ago tried to kill me in my sleep-"

"Severus! This is bigger than you and I. You must remember that."

"And her?" Severus motioned behind him exhausted and exasperated, "What death have you planned for her?"

"She has a purpose..."

"Do any of us live in your perfect world plan? Or have you just tricked me into becoming you?"

"Now is not the time." Albus' tone marked the end of their spat, his eyes turning to the elder woman who was just starting to come around.

Severus sneered and would have blasted a hole through the entire wall had he not needed the man to talk some semblance of sense into the woman on the floor. So instead, he pressed his hand over his heart to try and keep the pulse over his chest from becoming too distracting. It was times like this he would have preferred being woken up at three am because the girl he was leading to the gallows had a nightmare.

"Minerva?"

"Al..Albus?" Minerva let out a heavy groan as she pushed herself up from the floor. Her mind just a bit scrambled as to how she got down there in the first place before her eyes turned to the man sitting over the edge of his bed. Childishly he waved her captured wand at her before looking pointedly to her right.