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Flawed Chemistry	By : Prentice Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 7052 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Flawed Chemistry

Pairing: Hermione Granger/Severus Snape

Category: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, drama, future-fiction, first-time

Rating: PG-13,with future R-rated chapters.

Warnings: None thus far. Unbeta'd.

Summary: Hermione Granger has finally done what everyone else
has said was impossible to do but was it worth the cost?

Story Notes: This is set post-Hogwarts, after the trio has finally
graduated. There will be little to no mention of the events in any of the books
but I do try to stay as close to canon as possible. Also, for every "real"
chapter there will be a connecting half-chapter that will either be an a. diary
entry, b. journal entry, or c. letter. Sometimes they will tie into the chapter,
other times they will be entirely independent of it. It's up to you to
distinguish which is which.

Authors Note: Thank you for the kind encouragement that you've all
sent my way. I thank you for it. And, to answer LariLee's question in the
review, the later chapters will actually touch on the changes to Hermione's
appearance - her hair being one of the things mentioned. They will explain the
full extent of how much Hermione has changed.

********

Part 2

Seconds blurred into minutes and minutes into hours but still the figure sat
hunched over, face in hands, weeping quietly. Barely a meter away, still sitting
in the same place it had been in for over an hour now, was a potion that even
the most highly skilled Potion�s Master had claimed to be impossible to make.
But yet, there it sat.

Hermione Granger chocked on a faintly hysterical laugh, curling her fingers
down until her faded, sleep weary brown eyes stared over her peeling knuckles at
the vial. Another crackling laugh bubbled in her throat as a new patch of tears
leaked down her face, leaving streaks along her dirty cheeks.

The potion was actually done!

Pulling her fingers down, she pressed them against her mouth, barely
restraining a grimace when they cracked and began to bleed; they had done so
many times over these last few months. The young witch�s mind swirled with
half-formed ideas and possibilities. What else did she need to do? What else
could be done?

There�s nothing. Absolutely nothing. I�ve done it all. She thought, eyes
straying quickly to the neatly stacked pile of notes and journals that had kept
her company during the time she�d been down here, in the very bowels of her own
choosing. There was even a thoroughly outlined, comprehensive paper, numbering
over fifty pages about her experimentations and inevitable findings that she had
begun to compile over a week ago, when she realized she was so close to
finishing.

There was only one step left to take; one final action that she�d been
working towards during all the time she�d been here: come out of these dungeons
and inform the world of what she�d done. Of what she, no one else, had
accomplished.

�Oh, god.� The young witch whispered, her disused vocal cords making her
voice come out scratchy and several full octaves lower than she remembered. A
spike of fear wedged inside her, turning into a cold pit in the bottom of her
stomach. Merlin, why was she suddenly so frightened? So absolutely terrified?

Because, you haven�t left this place for more than a year. Because, the last
time you breathed in clean air, you were still thinking that this was going to
be one of the best and most defining moments of your life. A coughing sob
burst from her throat. You were a fool.

Tremors were beginning to snake their way through her body, setting her teeth
to chattering and pulse jumping. You don�t even know for certain the amount
of time that has passed since you first locked yourself in here. You�re only
guessing. Another hacking sob rose in her throat.

Had it really been so long? She wasn�t sure. After the first six weeks,
things -- time -- had begun to blur. She�d stopped being able to tell day from
night; night from day. By the time she�d begun skipping meals entirely, she
hadn�t known how much time had passed from the moment she�d first locked herself
in here and�now.

Get it together, Hermione. She scolded herself, allowing her hands to
fall into her lap even as the tremors persisted. You can�t just fall to
pieces. You do have things to do. Such as�

Biting her already bleeding bottom lip, Hermione forced herself to her feet,
quickly reaching out an arm to steady herself with the stool she�d been sitting
on when her legs began to wobble. Obviously, she�d been on her feet for to long
but now, now was not the time to indulge in rest. There were so many things to
do. So many things she was just now realizing needed to be done. So many�

Lifting her steadying hand from off the stool, she felt herself totter for a
moment, coming dangerously close to crashing to the ground or, worse, falling
onto the table with the precious mixture she�d worked so hard on. Come
on, Granger. She admonished herself. You can do this. You haven�t come
this far just to accidentally knock the blasted thing over. You just need a few
moments to regain your footing and in the mean time, you can call Tebby.

Wobbling once more, she nodded. Yes, Tebby.

Pressing her lips tightly together, she straightened her posture as much as
her knocking knees would allow and lifted her hands to pull out the chain around
her neck. It was a simple design, silver, now tarnished from constant wearing,
and no more decorative than that of any you�d see fastening a pocket watch into
place. But, it wasn�t the elongated band that she desired; it was the
opaque-sphere intricately fastened on it that held her interest.

Lifting it in her chapped, blackened fingers, she squinted at it, trying her
best to make sure it was properly set. It was a nervous habit she had developed
after days of exile in this place; if the pendant was not set or had in some way
been damaged�

I�d be stuck here. She mused, feeling the usual flush of nausea swell
through her even as she ran her fingertips over the sides of the device. Though
her sense of touch had long since been diminished in her fingers and palms, the
tell-tale notch in the fastening was still easy to distinguish. Thank Merlin.

Resisting the urge to bring the pendant to her lips for a relieved kiss, she
carefully held it up to the faint glow of the ever-lasting candles she had lit
more than a year ago. Lifting a shaking hand, she quickly turned the small
sphere in its setting and turned once, twice then three times. There, that was
it.

Hermione sighed. Now all she had to do was wait. Tebby usually appeared a few
minutes after she had summoned him.

Thank Merlin for whomever had created house-elves. She thought, carefully
tucking the chain and its pendant back into the bodice of her tattered and dirty
robes. The pendant was as much her creation as was the potion.

Having designed it just a month before spell-locking herself down here, its
function was closely based on that of a portkey. Though, with a few significant
differences. For instance, with three measured turns, the pendant was able to
summon whomever the user wished; in this case being Tebby, a house elf the young
witch had been forced to employ when she realized there were certain things she
would not be able to do while concentrating on making the potion.

Although, really, if Hermione were to admit to herself even, the house-elf�s
job was practically insignificant since she had one, not summoned him for over a
month and two, had very little for him to do with her not eating nor dirtying
any place other than her lab.

I hope he�s able to get away. She thought, her earlier excitement
bubbling in her once again as she stared at the crimson concoction. She barely
noted her shaking as she took a small step towards it.

I�ve really done it. I�ve really--

Her musings were interrupted by the familiar �pop� that accompanied Tebby�s
arrival. �Missus Granger call for Tebby?�

Hermione turned, a sudden urge to cry overtaking her. She�d never been so
happy to see another living creature in her life, even one with leathery
features and large bulbous eyes. �Yes, Tebby,� she rasped, �I did.�

�What would, Missus Granger, be wanting of Tebby?�

�Tebby, I�� Her sore eyes drifted to the potion once again. �I did it. I
actually did it.� Her voice, though already soft, was barely above a whisper. �I
made the potion.�

�Tebby is happy for Missus Granger.� The house-elf replied, squeaky voice
making Hermione winch.

�I�I, thank you.� She mumbled, stifling a sigh at the disappointment she felt
at the house-elf�s reply. What had she expected? Cheers? A pat on the back? No,
she hadn�t. Tebby probably didn�t even understand what she�d accomplished.

It�s not as though I ever really told him what I was doing. She reasoned.
It was true. Despite Tebby�s infrequent summons, no one knew, including himself,
what Hermione had been working on all this time. It had seemed to risky, to
unreal, to tell anyone before hand. That way, in the event that she hadn�t been
able to accomplish her task, she�d be able to hide her shame. Not that, that was
likely to happen since she absolutely had refused to leave this place until
she�d accomplished what she�d set out for.

Pride, it�s a killer. She mused morbidly. Turning her head swiftly back,
she gasped as black and white dots flashed across her vision. An startling rush
of vertigo assailed her. God, she shouldn�t have turned so quickly.

�Misses Granger is all right?�

Hermione shuddered, tottering on her feet. Snapping out a hand to try to
steady herself, she closed her eyes. �I�I�m�fine�� She whispered, feeling
herself totter again, hand barely catching the corner of the stool.

�Missus Granger?�

Swallowing at the rush of bile rising in her throat, she tried to open her
eyes but was only met by more painful flashes. Cold sweat was beginning to bead
across her forehead and she could feel her body begin shaking that much harder.

�Missus Granger?�

�Tebby�� She whispered before meeting with a rush of cold and darkness.
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Flawed Chemistry