The Magical Escape Room

The Accident

It was a normal stormy night, wind raging through the trees outside causing them to shed their leaves even faster than before. Raindrops crashed against the many windows of the castle, the sound of it creating a rather relaxing atmosphere. Hermione Granger was strolling through the castle at night to clear her mind. She had heard a faint rumbling sound before she fell through the floor underneath herself. She ended up in a strange and dimly lit room. She immediately grabbed her wand from her pocket and began looking around. Severus was in his office, listening to the sounds of nature as he was grading papers students turned in that day. It was something that had to be done, though he was already getting a little tired of reading the sometimes downright stupid answers some students wrote down. This lasted until suddenly, he heard a faint rumbling sound getting louder with every passing second. "What in Merlin's name..." He muttered before everything around him went black for a second. When he awoke he was laying on the ground, the light only returning when he felt the ground beneath his feet again. 'Where was he?!' He thought. Just like Hermione, he immediately reached for his wand before spotting a figure at the other end of the room. "Who is there?" He asked, not hesitating for a moment as he slowly walked closer, wand raised at whoever was standing in the shadows. "Professor Snape, you are here too?" Hermione asked as she walked closer to him. "Well.." He began, looking around, his dark eyes scanning the room they were in. "Are you okay?" She asked. He wasn't quite sure whether to feel relieved or horrified at the sight of Hermione walking closer. "If there is a way out, then yes." He muttered, frowning as there seemed to be no door in sight. None they could see anyway. "Are you alright, Granger?" He asked her. "Just some scrapes and bruises. I'll live. What about you?" She said as she looked at him. She was clearly more worried about him than herself. 'Scrapes and bruises. Right, in other words, she was okay.' He thought to himself. "Please, Miss. Granger. I'd appreciate it if you would focus on yourself." Severus told her. "As you can see we are in a rather unfortunate situation right now. Minor injuries should be the least of our worries." He said. Hermione was wearing a sweet baby blue dress with black lace with long black knee high socks and black heels. "Yeah, your right." She said as she took off her heels, looking at him. "Sorry, I was just worried about you." She said softly.

With a sigh, Severus put his wand away. There was no use for it at the moment. All he could do was try to figure out a way to get out of that room. 'Maybe this was one of Albus' tricks. The old man never failed to surprise everyone and it was almost never in a good way.' He thought as he looked over at Hermione. "If I were you. I'd worry about the fact that there seems to be no way out of this room." He calmly told her, slightly leaning with his back against one of the walls as he thought about it. 'Would sending an emergency patronus work? Was there something they had missed?' He thought as she used her wand to light up the room. She then looked at him. "Yes, that would probably be wise." She said softly as she leaned against the wall. She slid down and sat on the ground as she turned away for him. He kept looking around, almost desperately trying to find a way out. Though, after a while, the constant pacing stopped and he let himself slide down the wall into a sitting position opposite of the wall Hermione was sitting against. "We'll just have to wait for someone to start missing us." Severus said with a sigh, closing his eyes for a moment as he tried to think of what in Merlin's name he did to deserve to be stuck in a tiny room with a student. "Yeah, I guess so." She said softly.  She wiped her eyes and watched him. "So what were you doing when you got dragged here?" She asked curiously. "What I was doing, Miss Granger." He started, opening his eyes and looked up at the girl for a brief moment. "Is really none of your business, is it?" He snapped. 'Even though it was absolutely nothing interesting, why would I tell her? Why would I even want to talk to her? We were stuck for Merlin's sake!' He exclaimed. "Just like what you were doing is none of my business." He replied. "I was coming back from a date. It didn't go well." She said as she noticed a small gash in his forehead which was bleeding. "Oh, your head is bleeding, Professor." She said as she ripped her dress and created a clean cloth. "Let me help you." She said as she crawled over to him and folded it. She then placed it on his bleeding wound. 'Bleeding? How in the world did that happen? I didn't feel myself hitting something, or did I?' He thought. "Oh, please." He muttered as she ripped her own dress to create a cloth. 'A bad date. How unfortunate. But what could he do? Nothing. Anything I could say would be completely useless. All I really want was to get out of here for God's sake!' He thought as he brought his hand close to the wound, seeing spots of crimson red when he looked at it. "It can't be that bad. I really don't think ruining your clothes was necessary." He said. The gentle sting from Hermione pressing the fabric to it brought him back to reality. She checked the wound before cleaning it and moving his hair away from it. "Sorry, if I'm hurting you. I just need to get the bleeding under control." She said as she looked him in the eyes. "You might need a few stitches, Professor Snape." She said as she placed her other hand onto his cheek. Moving away from her, Severus put his hand to it. "Surely it'll stop bleeding on its own." He told her, keeping his fingers pressed to the wound. She was getting uncomfortably close, so he moved away a tiny bit more. "Okay but if you feel dizzy or light headedness. Tell me immediately. You might have a concussion." She said as she looked him in his eyes. "Sure, sure." He said as he looked away from Hermione after a few seconds, not believing it could be as bad as she was making it sound. 'A bloody concussion! How in Merlin's name could I have a concussion when I don't even remember hitting my head?!' Severus thought to herself. "Focus on yourself. Save your energy. We might be here for a while." He replied. Hermione crawled over and looked at him. "You smell like ink and parchment. So I guess that you were grading papers." She said softly. "You guessed it right, Granger. Well done." He sounded slightly sarcastic, still frustrated about the situation they were in. "Thanks, sir." She said smirking as she lit up a lantern before putting her wand into her purse. She then proceeded down next to him. "Could you lay with me? Just sleep together for a little while?" She asked. "Oh please, Granger. Don't tell me you're going insane already." He said as he moved away, getting up and walking to the opposite side of the room, sighing as there was no sign of an exit. "No, I just thought that it would probably be cold sleeping here alone." She replied giggling as she took out two pillows and two blankets from her purse. "How in Merlin's name..." He mumbled, frowning as he put a hand to the wall. It felt cold, a welcome change. 'Maybe it was time for me to get a bit of shut-eye as well?' He thought as he carefully sat down again, one knee up to his chest and head leaning against the cold stone wall. She handed him one of each before setting up her own sleeping area. "It would keep us warm." She said as she laid down on the floor and covered herself up. For a brief second, he looked a little surprised at the kind gesture. 'A pillow and a blanket? Well, I might as well set up my own little area and make good use of it.' He thought as he looked at him. "Thank you, Miss. Granger." He said as he began to cover himself up, the warm blanket being a welcome addition to the otherwise uncomfortable environment. "Anytime, Professor." She said softly as she looked over at him. "I'd do anything for you." She said softly as she curled up and closed her eyes. Only now did he notice how tired he actually was, though it would take a while for him to fall asleep. He barely heard what she said, the world already starting to fade as he closed his eyes. Maybe it was the injury, but he fell asleep remarkably fast. A deep, quiet slumber he had needed for a while now. Maybe in a few hours they could find out how to get out of that damned room.