She felt as if all eyes were on her today. Ridiculous really, considering the fact that people generally have more important things to think about at funerals. But she still didn't feel at ease. Of course she didn't. She was at her husband's funeral. Not only that, but she was now with another man: Severus Snape.

The last few days leading up to the funeral had been pretty hectic and she hadn't really found the time to think about how she would feel today. Of course she felt terrible to a certain extent; they had been best friends at one point. It wasn't as though he had really been a bad person either; their relationship had simply disintegrated years ago. She obviously did miss some aspects of Ron, but there were others that she could easily live without. His bluntness and crude humour for example; or simply the fact that she could never have a proper conversation with him about a new book she had read, or a new article on Ancient Runes that she was publishing. He had cared nothing for those sorts of things.

And so it was with extremely mixed emotions that she had left to go to the funeral that morning. But she wasn't allowed to go alone. Severus had appeared that morning, insisting that she had someone to be with. At first she had objected, telling him that everyone would be talking about the two of them and turning up together would just fuel the gossip further. However he had then pointed out that they would be gossiping anyway whether they turned up together or separately, so they may as well provide company for each other. Eventually Hermione had agreed in the end, secretly glad that he would be there with her. She knew that despite what people might say about Severus they were still very much scared of him, and so it wound be very unlikely that anyone would give them any bother.

They were standing at the back of the crowd that had gathered for the service. The group mostly consisted of members of the Order, although a few ministry workers and one or two of their former classmates had also turned up. She had caught a glimpse of Harry at one point be she had the distinct impression that he was avoiding her. Not that it came as much of a surprise. First to speak was Dumbledore, who gave a very moving little speech about the loyalty and bravery of Ron as a member of the Order. Then there was Harry, who spoke about his and Ron's friendship throughout the years. Finally Mrs Weasley stood up to speak, and it was her speech, more than anyone else's, that affected her the most. Ron had always been special to Mrs Weasley, despite his obvious flaws. Mrs Weasley had always spoken highly of his wife too, which made Hermione feel very guilty about having Severus beside her. She knew that whatever happened now, Mrs Weasley wouldn't look at her the same way again. None of the Order would. It was this thought that finally caused the tears to start. One by one, rolling silently down her face, it was as though the shock of the last few days had finally hit her.

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Severus glanced sideways at Hermione, only to realise that she had started to cry. He reached up with one hand and gently brushed away one or two of the tears, and in return she gave him a weak smile. Seeing her cry again reminded him of the day when she had first received the letter from Ron. He still had his suspicions that Ron hadn't been in his right mind before his death and this frustrated Severus to no end, mainly because it meant he couldn't be free to hate him in peace. It also bothered him because he could help but think that if Ron had survived then Hermione would have chosen Ron, rather than be involved with an outcast such as himself. He still expected her to change her mind, to leave and never come back. He would probably tell her to do so if he wasn't so worried about how that would affect her. She was still recovering from the shock of the last few days and Severus felt it was his responsibility to look after her. However, once she has recovered from the shock Severus knew he would have to give her the choice.

After the service there was a reception at the Potter's house that Hermione had also felt obliged to go to. This meant the Severus was going with her whether she liked it or not. He had too many memories of the arrogance shown by both James and Harry to let Hermione go alone and risk her receiving any sort of backlash from associating with a Slytherin such as himself.

As they entered the house Severus noticed with some chagrin that the home was large and well furnished. 'No doubt due to Potter's cushy job at the ministry…' Severus thought rather bitterly. When they entered the living room he could feel the stares of the funeral-goers burning into them. He steered Hermione towards a small table in the corner of the room as quickly as possible, knowing she wasn't nearly as used to the glares as he was.

"Sit. I'll get you a drink." he told her sternly. He came back with two goblets and a bottle of elfish wine.

Hermione smiled despite herself. "A whole bottle, Severus?"

He shrugged, meanwhile pouring the wine into the cups. "We'll most likely be here for a while, so I figured I may as well do something constructive with my time."

"You could always try talking to people." Hermione reminded him reprovingly.

"Oh, I know." he replied, smirking slightly. "But don't mind me, why don't you go and find Potter?"

"I don't-" Hermione paused and looked away. "I get the feeling he's avoiding me lately."

Severus took a sip of his wine before replying. "Because of me, I presume?"

Hermione looked rather awkward. "I'm sorry, but you know what he can be like."

Unfortunately, I do." Severus replied quietly. "But perhaps-" Severus paused and looked up in surprise as he noticed a strange smoke starting to fill the room.

"What is it?" he heard Hermione muttered in surprise. They weren't the only ones to notice however; muttering began to break out all over the room as people tried to distinguish the source of the smoke. Suddenly a flash of blinding red light exploded from the centre of the room and once his sight returned Severus could see that some sort of creature stood in the middle of the room. It appeared to be made entirely from smoke. There were gasps from people all round as the creature opened its mouth and began to speak.

"Beware," it hissed menacingly. "You mortals have angered my master greatly. You will all perish for your insolence."

It disappeared into thin air with another flash of red light, leaving a strange burnt circle in the middle of the floor. The room was silent.

Eventually people began to move around again and talk returned to the room once more.

"Come on." Severus snapped, grabbing Hermione's arm and pulling her up.

"Why? Where are we going?" she hissed at him.

"We're not safe here." he muttered in reply, pulling her to the front door.

"But that thing back there might not have had anything to do with us!"

"After the events over the last few weeks I'm not intending on taking any chances." he explained quickly, and before she could protest he pulled out his wand and apparated them both back to the only place he could think of: his old house at Spinners End.

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