When All is Lost, One is Found

Author: Rinoaebastel

Chapter 44: Snowy Closeness

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and gain no profit from this fanfiction other than writing practice. JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.

AN: This story may contain scenes taken from the Harry Potter movies and books, but it's not exact dialogue, just rewording of dialogue or omission. It is not marked.

November, 1996

A layer of snow covered everything around him, and it was the most calming view he'd had in some time.

He took a deep breath, tasting one of the firsts weeks of November. The first and weak rays of the sun blinded him for a moment as it rose. Raising his hand to protect his eyes from the light, he took a step forward, feeling and hearing the snow crunch beneath his feet.

He took a deep breath and adjusted his cloak before continuing his quiet pace; enjoying the silence and the brief time he could relax as he walked around Hogwarts' domains. He wanted to take his time, but knew he couldn't. He had to complete his task before the students noticed the new snow and potential damage they could do with the cold substance.

When he reached the line of trees that marked the entrance to the forbidden forest, he began to study the roots, removing some of the snow with his bare hands as he checked each one, not caring if his skin burned in the extreme cold. The headmaster was lucky that the herbs he was seeking didn't grow in the winter, but could still be found. The effort the purchase them would be bothersome.

The herbs were in a common place, but they were hard to find. Fortunately, this magic imbued forest provided plenty of roots to check. Roots plagued by unicorn's urine were essential for these types of plants to grow. He just hoped he didn't have to go too far into the forest. The centaurs were still furious from the previous year's events, and he didn't want to deal with them.

He spotted another root, and after cleaning it off, noticed it was rising from the land. A good sign. He crouched and removed more snow to check if there was a trace of the plant.

He frowned when he didn't spot any. He would be too lucky if he found them on his first attempt.

Putting his hand on the stem, he raised himself from the ground and went to the next tree, repeating the process.

More failure.

Severus let a sigh escape from his lips and closed his eyes. If it wasn't so important, he would've used this as a detention punishment, but he didn't trust them to remove this root. The pull had to be precise.

Feeling a warm pressure on his leg, he opened his eyes and his body tensed, reacting with instinct at a possible attack. His hand was already grabbing his wand, pointing at his side.

But his lips parted as soon as he was greeted with a soft meow. He looked down and saw a ginger furball nuzzling him. Where in Merlin did this cat come from? Normally the student's cats didn't wander this far from the castle. They tended to be stupid if they did since they were supposed to sense the danger coming from this area.

Then the cat with yellow defying eyes looked at him. A smirk crossed his features. No, this cat wasn't stupid. He knew exactly where he was.

"What are you doing here, furball? Didn't your owner tell you this is a dangerous place?"

The tail smacked him on his knee and he was sure that it had been on purpose. He tried not to laugh at that reaction. Too stubborn, too intelligent. The cat reminded him of—

"Crookshanks!" The cat's ears moved towards the sound, but he didn't walk toward the voice.

So he hadn't been mistaken.

"Professor," the young woman greeted him with a ragged breath when she got a couple feet in front of him. "I'm sorry about him. Crookshanks stop disturbing him."

The cat meowed and leaped onto his shoulder as if he did it every day.

"I assume this feline is yours?"

She smiled sheepishly. "He normally doesn't behave like this with others, and he doesn't tend to disobey me."

"Well, he must have a good reason," he said as he straightened to full height. "He seems to be a rather intelligent cat, for being a cat. But considering his owner, I'm not surprised."

"That can be explained. Crookshanks is half Kneazle." She tilted her head, looking at the cat who was now hearing their exchange. "He likes you."

"It appears so," Snape said.

"It means you're definitely trustworthy, sir."

He arched an eyebrow.

"I thought I was already, but I suppose I should feel honored to have it confirmed by another being."

The cat meowed in his ear and started to purr. Merlin, if another student came around right now his reputation would be ruined.

She nodded.

As pleased as he was with the exchange out of their sessions, he had to get back to work. He lifted the cat from his shoulders and handed him to her. When the cat was in her arms, he started to purr and closed his eyes against her clothes.

She kept looking at him, with curious eyes and a shade of a smile on her lips. Starting to feel uncomfortable, he walked to the next tree.

She followed him. "What are you doing?"

He noticed how she dropped the formalities and went straight to the question, and he didn't care that she did it. It didn't feel like an attack to his position or his authority. Without turning to look at her, he crouched and removed the snow with slow movements.

"I'm looking for a specific plant that grows at this area. It would be useful for a potion I'm working on against dark curses."

"I thought only certain types of fungus and mushrooms could grow here now," she said as she kneeled next to him with the cat still secure in her arms.

"It's called Cypripedium calceolus." He said before moving to another covered root with his other hand.

The young woman gasped and her eyes filled with enthusiasm. From her reaction, he knew she must've read about the plant before.

"Lady Slippers?" she whispered when she got closer to him, almost putting her boot on his black cloak. "Yellow Lady Slippers? You can find them here? In this Forest?"

He almost smiled at her excitement. "We have unicorns and they have their benefits, Miss Granger. All is possible. Of course, in winter they won't be green or bloomed." He wiped away more snow and saw what he was looking for. He reached down in the ground and pulled it at the perfect angle instead of cutting it.

She leaned over him, getting closer and not flinching away. She wasn't fearful of him at all. He kept his gaze on the plant.

"Is this..?" It was only a root, nothing beautiful, but she looked at it as if it were in full bloom.

"Sprout used to teach how to cut them but no longer since they're rare now. Only a master knows how to cut or in my case, pull, the plant. For this potion I will only need a small portion of the root, so I'll either try to cultivate it myself, or give it to Professor Sprout for her research in cultivating them."

She studied the small plant. "You will have enough with only a piece of this?"

"If I don't fail. Even being small, it's potent enough."

He was about to pull his hand away but she grabbed his wrist. An uneasy feeling crossed his spine. He had almost jumped, startled at her gesture. He scowled, but she didn't see him. Instead, she was focused on his hands.

"Your hands are so red. You need to wear gloves next time."

"It would be hard to gather herbs with them," he replied calmly. .

She let go of his hand. "You could get thinner ones and wear them to remove the snow."

He rose from his position, feeling his knees protesting for a moment. "Don't concern yourself with such trivialities. I'm used to doing these things."

The witch nodded before rising from her position too. For a quiet second, they just stared at each other until her cat, started to purr. The yellow eyes focused on him. It felt like the cat was studying him, trying to decipher if he really was a trustworthy person. It was uncomfortable to be judged by an animal too.

"Then I shall take my leave, Miss Granger." He walked past her and toward the castle.

"Ah! Professor, wait. Just a moment." He heard her call him and his feet stopped. The witch was in front of him again in a second. "I was wondering if we could have another session on Saturday. I'm not going to Hogsmeade because...Well, I thought I could do something productive. I still have to polish the technique even if I can do the basics."

Her hesitation showed.

His eyebrow arched.

That was unexpected. Seeking her free time to learn wasn't strange but to learn with him was. It was normal that she didn't want to go to the village if her friends still refused to talk to her, but she could do things by herself.

He found himself wanting to see her. Wanting her company on a quiet Saturday.

"I have no objections. Come anytime in the morning. I will be correcting papers."

AN: Ops... Another favourite chapter here. This one has a companion draw that will probably post later on DA. To the chapter...Sweety closeness? Thigns twisting? Mmmm. Let me know what you think on the reviews and see you on Saturday!