Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related things are not mine. They are owned by the wonderful J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. I make no money whatsoever out of this. It is simply to have some fun with the characters we all love and hopefully improve my writing.

Reviews will of course be appreciated. Constructive criticism is also fine.

The rain hit her face hard as the cold wind whipped her hair and cloak. She ran as fast as she could, she was nearly there.

"Wait!" he screamed. But she didn't want to wait, she wanted to leave and never see his face again; never see any of their faces. She could hear his footsteps pounding, voices of wolves howling and the wind whistling as she hurried through the dark forest. She attempted to Apparate once again but she had no energy, she was too weak. There was a Portkey inside the house she was running to, she was sure. But she wasn't quite sure if she'd make it. Again he screamed at her but his voice quickly died away as it flew with the breeze. Within a metre away from the shabby house, she felt something grab her ankle and she fell face forward onto the wet grass. She scrambled to her feet but a strong hand suddenly gripped her right arm.

"Don't try to run!" he roared over the howling wind, "You must come with me, I'll Apparate you back!"

"No!" she yelled, trying to free herself, "I don't want to go back, I want to leave!" Her struggle was weak and she felt herself being Apparated and was inside a brightly lit room within seconds. He let go of her and pulled down his hood. Then he took out his wand and whispered an incantation. Hermione looked around and ran to the door on the left side of the room. She tried to turn the knob but it wouldn't budge.

"Let me go!" she screamed hysterically.

"Miss Granger, just listen to me and once you've heard everything I've had to say, you may choose to leave or accompany me."

Hermione shivered and looked for her wand. Snape pointed his wand to himself and his clothes were dry in an instant, he did the same to Hermione then reached inside his robes and took out her wand.

"I will give it to you once you've listened."

"How did you get my wand?" demanded Hermione.

"That does not matter, we have little time. I must explain -" he was cut off by Hermione tackling him. She reached for her wand but Snape was holding strongly onto it.

"Give - me - my - wand!" she said through gritted teeth. Hermione was no match for Snape and she soon found herself helplessly pinned under him.

"Don't be a fool," he hissed, "you must listen! Give me a chance to explain!" he breathed heavily.

"Let me go," she warned as she stared coldly up at him.

Snape looked as though he'd wanted to hit her but held firmly onto her hands instead. His blacks locks fell over her face and she spit on the side. Snape looked dangerously down at her and hissed, "Will you listen?"

Hermione tried pushing him off. Snape pushed her back with ease. "This is not the time to be stubborn, Miss Granger," he said rather tiredly.

"Look, I'll listen to you just move off me!" she said in disgust after a moment.

Snape rose to his feet while he eyed her suspiciously.

"What do you want?" she demanded as Snape began searching for something.

"You can trust no one, we must leave urgently," said Snape.

"What on earth are you talking about?" asked Hermione.

Snape faced her. "We must hide, leave. There is no one you can trust. The Dark Lord is looking for you. You have been acting like a fool." His face was suddenly contorted by rage. "How can you be so stupid as to trust Malfoy?" he whispered in a deadly voice. Hermione's eyes went wide as she stared at him.

"What? Stupid? He looked after me for three months when no one bothered to even look for me!"

"Only to bring you closer to the Dark Lord. You fool!" he hissed.

Hermione squared her shoulders as her eyes narrowed. "First you bring here and tell me there's no one to trust and now you're calling me a fool simply because I've been trying to save myself!"

Snape turned his back on her and continued looking for whatever he wanted. "You are important to the Dark Lord, he wants to use you as a weapon, to kill Potter," said Snape.

"Yes I know all that," said Hermione impatiently. "What I don't know is why I'm here and why I wasn't taken to Dumbledore instead; why did you say I can't trust anyone, why was I foolish to trust Malfoy and how exactly am I weapon to Voldemort?"

Snape opened a draw, took something small out and put it inside his robes. He then walked to a small wardrobe in the corner. Snape paused his actions as he said, "Dumbledore is nothing but an old man," then took black robes out of the wardrobe.

"The Order is sacrificing millions of lives rather than saving. They would have taken you if they'd found you before me. You cannot trust any of them, even Potter. We will not be staying here for long, we shall leave to a small Muggletown across the forest once I have finished."

Hermione watched him. "What about Draco...he can't have been taking Voldemort's orders?" she asked quietly.

"He was," said Snape harshly.

"And why should I trust you! If I can't even trust Dumbledore or Harry, then why you?"

Snape took out his wand and transfigured his robes into a black Muggle suit. He looked up at Hermione and said, "Trusting me will save your life, Miss Granger."

Hermione looked suspiciously at him, then asked, "Where am I?"

"My home," replied Snape as he picked up the suit and walked through a door. Minutes later he walked out wearing the suit. Hermione's jaw dropped. She almost laughed but managed to turn it into a cough as she caught sight of the dangerous look on Snape's face.

"You are naive, Miss Granger; in time you'll know how serious this is."

Hermione opened her mouth to speak but Snape beat her to it. "We need to leave as soon as we possibly can," he said. Snape walked to the door then paused and looked Hermione up and dowm. She stared down at herself.

"What?" she asked. Snape didn't reply. "Follow me," he simply said.

He lead her down a filght of stairs to what seemed to be a small dungeon. They reached a room with a small door located in a corner. Snape raised his wand and whispered something as he pointed it towards the small door. Hermione heard a click and the door opened to reveal a thin passageway illumintated by candlelight. Snape walked in but stopped after a few steps as he realised Hermione had not moved.

"Let me go," she said.

Snape gave a small sigh. "Do not make this difficult, Miss Granger."

"I might be walking blindly into a trap! I am not going with you!"

"I shall put you under the Imperius Curse if you do not come with me."

"You said I had a choice."

Snape ignored what she had just said. "Miss Granger, I need to take you to safety. If you do not come with me tonight, you will be taken to the Dark Lord and put under the Imperius Curse. He will then kill you once he's finished with you," said Snape in an alarmingly calm voice.

"But where are we going?"

"To a Muggletown," he snapped.

"Why?"

"As much painful the following months may turn out to be, I have no other choice but to take you along with me. You will make the Dark Lord stronger and I am tring to stop him. Do not ask questions."

"How will I make him stronger and how will you stop him? Does Dumbledore know this?"

"Dim though you may be, I had thought you'd understand that I no longer associate with the Order!" said Snape bitterly.

"How can I possibly understand when you haven't told me a thing!" cried Hermione in frustration.

"Once we get there and once I have finished, I will explain."

"Get where and finish what?"

Snape stared at Hermione for a while then gripped her hand strongly and pulled her into the tunnel. He then turned around and locked it with a flick of his wand.

"What are you doing?" shrieked Hermione as she walked to the door and tried to pull it open.

"Just shut up and do as I say," said Snape.

Hermione saw her wand poking from Snape's pocket and snatched it. Snape faced her and smirked. "You cannot possibly be thinking of hurting me?" he mocked.

"I am!" said Hermione heatedly, "unless you tell me where we're going!"

Snape sighed once more. "Put your wand down," he said in an emotionless voice.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Or what?"

"Nothing. I will let you go and once the Death Eaters find you, I'll simply watch you fight bravely with the Dark Lord till he kills you."

Hermione's eyes went wide. "You cruel -"

"Do not complete that sentence, Miss Granger," he warned and swiftly took back her wand.

"Fine," she said through gritted teeth, "Let me free."

"Follow me and I'll gladly leave you," he sneered then walked ahead. Hermione was surprised by the sudden change but didn't argue.

She stepped over the threshold and Snape locked the door behind her. They reached the end of the tunnel after what seemed an eternity to Hermione and both stepped out into the cold, dark night.

"Give me my wand now," she said.

He gave her the wand and smirked. Hermione looked around and saw a village up ahead. She took a few steps forward but paused as Snape spoke. "For the cleverest witch of your age, you sure are stupid," he said, giving a low, bitter laugh.

Hermione faced him with a questioning gaze. Snape took her hand and began leading her to the village.

"You liar!" she said as she struggled to free herself from Snape's iron hand. They walked in silence apart from the offensives Hermione was hissing at Snape.

"I'm not your student anymore! Let me go!" she roared.

Snape ignored all this but faced her as they got near to some cottages. "Do not speak," he whispered threateningly. They reached a particularly small cottage and Hermione saw a dim light from the window. Snape looked around, looking ready to attack then knocked softly on the door. An old man opened the door and studied the two. He then walked back into his home after giving Snape a nod. Hermione turned to ask Snape who this man was but he gave her a look that plainly said, 'shut up'. The man walked out with a small box in his hand, gave it to Snape then shut his door.

Snape again studied their surroundings and faced Hermione, still gripping her hand. She knew her blood circulation would soon stop if he didn't let go. "Hold onto my shoulders," he whispered. Hermione tried once more to free herself. Snape instead gripped her shoulders and Hermione felt herself being Apparated once again by the man. She looked around and found herself in a small room illuminated by dim candlelight. It had one bed, a door leading to what Hermione thought was a bathroom, sofa, chair, fireplace and bookshelf overflowing with books. On the other side was a small kitchen with a dining table and two chairs. There was also a bench with some cauldrons on a side and a shelf stacked with jars filled with ingredients.

"Where the hell am I?" said Hermione as she noticed there was no window.

"Underground," replied Snape. Hermione turned around to face him and saw that he was wearing his robes again.

"What do you want from me, Snape. You don't really want to save me so tell me why I'm here!"

Snape took out the box the old man had given him and opened it. He took out two rings. "Wear this," said Snape.

"Why? What is it?"

Snape looked away looking suddenly uncomortable.

"Sit," he told Hermione.

Hermione ran a hand through her hair and sat on the sofa. Snape sat on the chair opposite her.

"Right now your love for Potter is the strongest," began Snape, "and the Dark Lord wants to use that against us -- the Order and anyone fighting him in general. Once he captures you, he will put you under the Imperius Curse and force you to associate with Potter and Dumbledore. Every month, once you are summoned, he will transfer all your love onto himself after changing it into hate. Of course absorbing love will kill him so that is why I will put a spell on you that will not allow the Dark Lord to change the love. Instead, the spell will will make you a magnet to the hate people have or the Dark Lord. So when he tries the spell on you, he will instead be absorbing the hate around him but once it reaches him, the hate will turn into love. Therefore he'll be absorbing the love itself not the hate he thinks he's absorbing, thus weakening himself till he is no longer strong enough to fight."

Hermione stared at Snape for a while as she tried to understand.

"But wouldn't he then realise what's going on?"

"Not until the last minute."

Hermione looked down. "But that means I'll hate Harry?" She frowned, I am supposed to hate him, aren't I? she asked herself remembering how he and Ron ignored her.

"No. The spell will cause Voldemort to absorb the hate around him while creating it into love. The hatred people have towards Voldemort can kill him within seconds if absorbed in one dose but the spell will slower the intake down. So you will be unharmed."

Hermione bit her lip. "But why didn't you all do this before? I would never have had to hide with Draco or run away from the Order."

"The spell was rather difficult to accomplish. Once I fully trusted myself to cast it without Dumbledore, I left and looked for you."

"But why?" said Hermione. "Why you? What has happened to make you do this?" asked Hermione in a suspicious tone.

Snape rubbed the bridge of his nose. "There have been incidents that have made me think I am no longer welcomed in the Order. Dumbledore is..."

"What?"

Snape rose to his feet. "Once this is over, things may return to the way they were." Hermione sensed the doubt in his voice.

"But what are those rings for?" she asked, taking a look at them. Snape lit the fire and the room began warming up instantly.

"Those rings are...marriage rings."

"Marriage rings...? But why do I have to wear one?"

Snape stared down at Hermione with a stony look. "We will stay here and I will teach you Occlumency. Once you have accomplished it, I will take you to the Dark Lord so you could have the Dark Mark -"

"I will not become a Death Eater!" said Hermione, rising to her feet.

"You will have to, Miss Granger. Unless you want to be under the Dark Lord's influence?"

"Of course not!" roared Hermione.

"I have been patient with you, Miss Granger. Do not tempt me to treat you differently. You are no longer my student but you will respect me like I am your professor and you will do everything I say. Now, you will become a Death Eater because there is no other choice. Once the Dark Lord uses Legilimency on you, you will picture images of torturing Potter and being a faithful servant of his," said Snape in a soft voice that was unmistakably filled with suppressed rage.

Hermione was shaking her head. "No...I -- can't do that."

"You can and you will," said Snape sternly.

"But what about the rings?" she said after some silent minutes.

Snape didn't reply but watched the fire. "The Dark Lord does not accept any woman to become a Death Eater unless she is married to one," he said shortly after.

Hermione laughed, "No. That is ridiculous. I will not marry you!"

Snape stayed silence. Hermione dropped her head in her hands and went quiet. "Aren't you scared?" she asked quietly.

"Of what?" said Snape sharply.

"What if Voldemort realises you're not on his side?"

"He won't."

"What about the Order?"

Snape took out the small object he pocketed inside his home and rose to his feet.

"They must be quite disappointed not to have a dog around," said Snape bitterly.

"What do you mean?"

Snape placed the blade on the top shelf of ingredients. "Dumbledore only ever wanted me to fufill his dangerous duties. He couldn't have cared less if I'd died."

Hermione watched Snape. He looked thinner, more pale and exhausted. His hair had grown long so it reached past his shoulders. She hadn't seen him for a whole year and when he appeared at the door of the little home she lived in, she nearly fainted as she was quite certain he was dead. The last she saw of him was when he left for a special meeting with the Dark Lord. He didn't return to the Orders' headquarters again but Hermione left and never heard from him again. Draco Malfoy had found her roaming around Diagon Alley and had lived with her ever since. She was hesitant at first but Draco had her convinced that he was on her side. The bastard, thought Hermione. She really was a fool.

Hermione could not believe she was sitting in this room with Snape. She could not believe she would actually have to be a Death Eater in a few months time. Does she really have to marry Snape? Why did Snape come for her? Surely he wouldn't care if Voldemort had killed her? It's the only chance to defeat Voldemort. Hermione's lips curled. Snape being noble? She looked up to find him watching her; the box was still in his hand.

Hermione sighed and walked towards him. "What if this is just a plan to get me closer to Voldemort?" she asked. Their eyes locked.

"Do not be as judgemental as your friends, Miss Granger," he said with no warmth in his voice. But Hermione sensed she could trust him. She never really ever thought he was one of the 'bad guys' like Ron and Harry did. She wondered what they were doing, but she remembered how they'd treated before she'd left and scowled.

Hermione hesitated before reaching into the box and taking the ring out. She stared at it for a while.

"It will magically bind us together. There is no need for the usual ceremony but I will have to...place it on your hand."

Snape held Hermione's hand rather roughly as he put the ring on her finger. Hermione took out the other ring and Snape held out his hand. The rings glowed a light blue for a few moments then changed back to their normal colour once again.

"It is done," said Snape finally, "Now, we shall begin Occlumency."

Hermione wasn't hearing whatever he was saying. She was staring the ring. I'm married to Snape! She tried to take the ring off but it wouldn't bugde. She looked up at him in alarm.

"Why doesn't it get off?"

Snape glared down at her. "They will never get off," he spat.

"What?" said Hermione weakly, "It never gets off?"

"These are rings enchanted with old magic. They will not be removed unless..."

"Unless what?" said Hermione knowing Snape will say something she would not like.

"A child is born."