AUTHOR NOTE: For January Quill Contest for the Hideaway, a Harry Potter Fansite. See profile for link and come join the fun! Be sure to mention Wicked sent you! This is a requirement of A Dark Fiction over 1000words with an HP character lost including the betrayal of a loved one.

She stumbled; the muck and filth of the mud puddle splashed into her face and hair. She seemed to have been wandering around for hours. She cried harder in frustration. This was getting her nowhere. She felt hopeless. She wiped the brown sludge from her face and stood up with slumped shoulders. Slowly, she backed up to the brick wall of the building and slowly slid down the face of it, bringing her knees to her chin. Everything changed. She thought she had it all, but now, she had nothing and she was lost.

Last night was quiet save the merry chirping of crickets hidden in the grass calling for their mates. Hermione had spent two hours in the shop looking for the perfect anniversary present for her parents. The brilliant silver package was tucked neatly under her arm as she walked lazily down the street, smiling contentedly about how her life was different now that he said he loved her.

Yes, Severus Snape made the proclamation soon after Hermione and her friends graduated. It took her by surprise, to say the least. After all this time, he had been keeping his emotions in check, well, since the beginning of her seventh year, anyways. She celebrated her seventeenth birthday at Hogwarts, and Severus took notice of the fact that she had matured so much over that summer after Dumbledore died. He supposed that death would do that to a person. He was just so thankful that the old coot left behind the bit of polyjuice they had found in the prefect's bath…with Severus' hair inside.

Lucius Malfoy, having been the one to truly kill the Headmaster, was safely ensconced in Azkaban having been kissed repeatedly by the dementors. He was free of that bit of grief once he was found chained in Malfoy's cellar and released. He just had to wait for Potter to get rid of the great snake, which surprisingly wasn't too long after Lucius' sentencing.

However, that didn't stop the Death Eaters from continuing the cause of the Dark and mass killing muggleborns and their families. Severus had to keep his appearances to the other Death Eaters, for they knew not of Lucius' private plan to capture and frame him. Apparently, the Dark Lord didn't know of it either. So when He saw the vision in Lucius' mind, Voldemort himself snapped his fingers and sent Malfoy into the Ministry foyer dressed as Severus Snape. It didn't take long for them to shackle him and watch as he transformed before their eyes. Severus was welcomed back into the fold to continue his mission as spy for the Dark Lord.

When it was over, he let go of a breath that he had been holding for the last eighteen years. He became a different person and ultimately became accustomed to having Hermione in his presence which led to their eventual relationship. She had taken her NEWT Potions exam early so that she could be dismissed from his classes. Students and teachers were not allowed to date. Hermione was no longer his student and she was of age. It was just what he wanted. And he found out later, what she desired secretly.

It was at the meeting yesterday afternoon that his loyalties would be tested. Even though there was no Dark Lord to lead them, the Death Eaters were still tight in their group. Therefore, Severus was expected to help them or die…or worse, let Hermione die. One of the inner circle informed him that they were on their way to a house and that if Severus behaved, he could have his trollop. If he tried to stop them, then Hermione would die as well. So he stood by and watched as the men and women in black flooded a small house. Severus didn't know where he was. He heard the words that meant the raid was over.

Avada Kedavra.

He entered the parlour of the house and saw two bodies on the floor. One man and one woman who seemed to be married. Severus looked around the small house and didn't see anything out of place. The other Death Eaters disappeared with several pops. Severus began to twist into his own pop, but something caught his eye. On the mantle above the fireplace, was a picture. The face looked back at him with a smile and a wave. The young woman flipped her hair over her shoulder and then put on a fake pout then laughed. The picture reset and did the motions over, a wizard picture in a muggle house. Severus looked at the face he had seen just hours before pushed against him begging him not to go to the meeting. He saw the lips that he kissed passionately. With one hand, he reached for the picture while the other removed his mask and hood. And that's how Hermione found him, standing in the parlour of her parent's home between their two dead bodies holding her picture in one hand and his Death Eater mask in the other. The silver package dropped to the floor, the crystal goblets shattering inside the box.

Severus jerked around.

"Mum…Dad…," she choked. She looked up to Severus then. "You?…HOW COULD YOU? I LOVED YOU!" Her screams were deafening.

She had her wand raised before Severus realized. Then, with the sickest whisper he ever heard from her lips, she began the incantation, "Avada Ke…"

He popped out of existence as the jet of green hit the mantle, missing him by a fraction.

Hermione summoned Minerva and Remus who quickly took care of her parents and led her back to Grimmauld. She had been there for a few hours before the walls seemed to cave in on her. She had to get out. She didn't know how far she had walked or what direction she was headed. All she knew was she was somewhere in muggle London and the next morning had dawned. The cars zoomed down the street nearby. People milled about from shop to shop, completely ignoring the seemingly homeless girl in the muddy, tattered clothes curled up against the cold harsh stone crying.

That is, until she felt a warm wool blanket covering her. She subconsciously reached to bring the blanket closer to her chin. That's when she realized that it wasn't a blanket, but a cloak…a familiar cloak.

"I've sworn to kill you," she said through her chattering teeth. It wasn't cold. It was just the adrenaline and anger rising in her boiling blood.

"I understand. Before you do, I want you to know that I had nothing to do with it. I had to stand by and watch or they would have killed you as well. I couldn't let them do that," he said as he sat down beside her. He lifted his hand to remove the plastered hair from her face.

She scooted back swiftly. "Don't you dare touch me."

He sighed, "What can make you believe me? What can help you forgive me for not saving them?"

Hermione slowly stood up as did Severus. She looked him straight in the eye. "There is nothing you can do. If you wanted to have done something, you should have stayed with me. I would have ran to you for comfort instead away from you in pain."

And she did it again. She ran until she was lost in the crowds of muggles.