redemption - SOULBOUND I̲̅I̲̅ || SS/HG

13. Foam

Silence, horrible, silence.

Harry had gone pale, his eyes seemingly throbbing, pupils dilating dangerously while Ron's mouth stood agape at the information that had been given to him.

"It can't be," spoke Hagrid, breaking the long silence that had been placed in the room, "Harry can't be the horcrux, that'll mean..."

"We'll have to find a way to destroy him...the soul of Voldemort inside Harry, yes." Hermione was livid, yet tried her best to show no signs of emotion, knowing that in the end, she was the brains of the group and if she were to be panicking, all hell will break loose. "Think about it. In the word spiritual there is 'spirit' and 'residual', meaning Voldemort when he came that night to kill you, he died and that residual of a soul he had left within him went inside you when he died. All living being has a spirit, yet as we grow older we unwantedly silence and rapture the connection between our spirit and our mind. Yet you were a baby, at your purest living form. The spiritual aspect is a life form."

"Physical and spiritual, the world and those that live in that world," Harry whispered, his eyes watering, "I gave him his immortality."

Hermione bolded out of her chair and knelt in front of the devasted boy, his glasses hiding in vain the pain in his eyes. "You were a baby Harry, you couldn't have known. That'll explain how you can speak parseltongue and sensed he was coming before any of us could. Dumbeldore's memory must be linked to the discovery of all his Horcruxes, but remember, you are unknown to him. We can use that to our advantage. Harry, you are the last piece of the puzzle, and we'll find a way to save you I promise."

Jaw clenched, Harry relaxed in the arms of his friend who sat on his knees and held him close, her own tears rolling down her cheek, quietly mortified at her discovery.

"We need to speak to Snape, he can help us find a way to kill Voldemort and save you Harry."

"Why Snape?" Asked Hermione while affectionately fondling with Harry's hair. She knew he didn't like it, but that was the first thing she thought of to make him smile just a little. "Since when have you become chummy with our teacher?"

Harry giggled, "if only you knew."

"Knew what?"

"Since he found you unconscious near that dumb tree he has been quite helpful in enlightening us more on the whole Horcrux situation," replied Ron, his eyebrow-raising in a silent question while Harry squinted his face.

"I thought you were the one who found me Ron!"

"Oh it's just semantics Hermione, the most important is Harry right now, right Harry?"

The discussion had ended there, yet it left Hermione with more questions and thoughts than she would have liked. Her mind never stopped throbbing, to the point that by the end of the day, she had gone to the prefects' bathroom, hoping to be alone while dipping in boiling water to soothe the pain.

After the trio had left Hagrid's hut in absolute silence, the two decided to join Dean and Seamus for a quick game of chess in the great hall, which gave Hermione plenty of time to go upstairs, grab her towel and rushed to the fifth floor. Making sure no one was following her, she cast a locking spell on the door, warding the room from any prying eyes.

She smiled with excitement and flicked her wand on the water, bubbles appearing and fog evaporating from the now boiling water. "Finally!"

Removing her clothes in one swift motion, Hermione slowly dipped her toes and moaned happily as the burning sensation tickled her skin. Looking down at her now fully dipped body, her skin kept a nice olive hue, far from the blood-red and bursts that should have appeared at the contact of such temperature on her skin.

Moaning Myrtle looked at her from behind a column, watching the witch swim in the big bath and enjoy herself. She had seen the witch grow over the years, yet this witch wasn't the girl she once knew, something dark was surrounding her, she could see it.

Every dead person could see it.

On the opposite side of the door, Snape groaned in annoyance to whoever had locked the door. He had wanted some alone and relaxing time in the prefect's bathroom since the beginning of the week, yet the pile of parchments he needed to look at had taken up all of his time. Although he was a teacher, Severus firmly believed that he could have access to anything in the castle, regardless if it was initially intended for particular students only.

It wasn't the first time that the door was locked. Many times, some students will voluntarily lock it to privatise the room, forbidding anyone from entering while they showered. However, the spell placed on the door was far more advanced, a seventh year he suspected. Annoyed, knowing he would have to wait another day before being able to relax, Snape turned around and started walking away from the door, only for a small cracking noise to halt him from his stride.

The door was now slightly open, and Severus smiled and rushed inside, delicately locking the door behind him with a spell he had himself perfected.

Hermione swam towards the edge of the bath and grabbed her wand, casting an enhancement spell to give more depth to the large bathtub. Before diving under the sea of bubbles, her face instantly burning, a feeling of bliss taking over her.

His shoes clicked on the marble floor. Snape rolled his eyes when he foam reaches his feet and looked up only to find the prefect's bath full of soap, a strangely familiar smell of lavender in the air.

Hermione's vision blurred as her images of the prefect's bathroom appeared before her. She tried to look away yet couldn't, as if hypnotised, unable to take control over herself. Her breathing pace increased massively as a tall mysterious man entered the water and moaned at the warm sensation prickling its way through his alabaster skin, his head now falling back against a stone, the corner of his mouth slightly creased before moan overcame him.

Suddenly Hermione felt like she was being pulled into the void. Trying to gasp for air, she instantly felt shocked by a rush of water inhaled into her lungs, making her panic. Her eyes now adjusting to her surroundings, Hermione tried in vain to conjure her wand, yet her magic slowly weakened with her heartbeat.

She was going to die, she knew it. The door was locked, it was probably dinner time, everyone must be in the great hall while she's drowning in the prefect's bathroom. "What a horrible way to die," she thought, closing her eyes and allowing death to take her.

However, two arms wrapped themselves around her form and lifted her out of the water, a small gasp reverberated in the bathroom followed by mumbling.

"Granger!" Snape grabbed his wand and started casting spells, hoping one of them would help the water nestled in her lugs to vanish. "Hermione please wake up! I can't lose you a second time, please, I'm begging you!"

And she did, naked, in her nearly as divested professor's arms.