I own nothing except the plot. The characters are property of JKR.
As she sat looking out the window, she wondered when he would come back. He had left in such a hurry, not one word to her, just as if someone had turned on a switch. If she hadn't known that Voldemort was dead she would have thought he had been called.
She spoke to Dumbledore a week after he had disappeared. Since it was summer break, Severus wasn't staying at Hogwarts, but Albus didn't have any idea what was going on. He told Hermione to stay calm that Severus was probably out collecting some rare potion specimen.
After six months had gone by, she decided that she needed to do more in her search. Everyone else, even Dumbledore, had given up and said that, either he was dead or didn't want to be found. She refused to allow that hollow feeling take root in her chest. "I will find him," she cried.
Of course Harry and Ron were both clamoring that it was typical Snape, he'd left to hurt her, to get back at the "evil" golden trio. She told them in no uncertain terms that he would never do that to her. Something unnatural had to have happened.
Twenty some odd years later, she was standing in the hallway of the old Riddle manor. She had gotten into the house after Albus had passed away and before the Ministry could reset the wards on the house. He had originally let her search the house after Severus had disappeared all those years ago. She had searched physical locations, the dungeons, the attic, and everywhere in-between. When she had been in the library, it had never occurred to her that she should have looked more closely, she had only glanced at the books and other objects, more worried about a warded secret passage. But now, there it was, all this time it had been here, she felt herself shaking, as she got closer to the shelf. Reaching up, she pulled the dusty statue down and gently wiped off the dust. Oh god, the statue felt warm, in an otherwise cold, cold, room. It was a perfect replica of Severus, down to the glittering black eyes and swirling robes. She almost dropped it in horror but caught herself just in time. Gently placing the statue down she rushed out of the room, out the front door and threw herself to the ground to retch until there was nothing left anywhere in her digestive system. Going back into the house quickly, she grabbed the statue and returned to her home. She would need to conduct tests on the statue to confirm or hopefully disprove her theory.
In the end, the horror that was her theory was confirmed. After being given permission by the ministry to search and catalogue the books in the Riddle library she finally found the truth. A spell, unknown to any of his followers, was cast with the branding of the dark mark. If any should betray the dark, they would be called to the manor and there turned into what Hermione held in her hands with no way to undo it. It was the dark lord's last laugh.
