Akikko: This is dedicated to Kat, my sister. She really wanted to read another Snape and Hermione fan fiction, and hey, I wanted a reason to write one.

DISCLAIMER:

None of the characters here are mine unless otherwise mentioned. The titles come from the song "I Summon You" by Spoon.

Chapter 1: Remember the Weight of the World

Severus Snape resisted the urge to yawn. Voldemort had summoned him to yet another one of his frivolous meetings with the Death Eaters. This was another planning meeting. 'More like another couple of hours of him ranting and raving how much he hates the Potter boy and Dumbledore.' He thought, and smirked.

Voldemort noticed his action and stopped ranting long enough to say to him, "Something amusing, Severus?" Snape's blood ran cold. He kept a straight face, keeping the mental shields in his mind up. "No. Nothing's funny here, my Lord."

Voldemort stared at him with a glare that could rival even Snape's. "Severus, recently I've noticed that you haven't been very… how should I put this," he said, trailing off. He started again. "You haven't been very trustworthy. The Malfoy child has informed me of many things you have failed to. And you're a teacher," he said, his voice as raspy as ever. "Teachers learn these things before the students do."

Severus bowed his head. "I'm sorry, my Lord." Voldemort yelled, "SILENCE! Do you really think that's enough to appease me? I have spared you many tortures and taken you under my wing, and all you can do is apologize?"

"My Lord, I know. What can I do to make it up for you?" Severus said. In his head, he was cursing. 'Shit. I should have remembered his anger for apologies.'

"Stand in front of me, Severus." Severus walked in front of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. "I know something you can do. You can scream for me. Crucio," Voldemort said in a bored tone.

Severus felt a pain go through him that felt as if he was being torn apart. His head felt like somebody was squeezing it and they were going to crush it. He gritted his teeth, and finally he let out a long, painful yell. He fell onto the floor and rolled, his black robes collecting dirt from the ground. His hands were pulling on his hair and some ripped out. His fingers dug into his skull and drew blood. He screamed and screamed, until he almost lost his voice.

In what seemed like ages later, the pain slowly subsided, and Voldemort looked down at him with disgust. "Get up." Snape used every once of energy left in his body to get to his own two feet. He was breathing heavily as he tried to straighten. It didn't work. He was bending over.

"You see, I'm too generous with you. Normally I would just kill off any person who was as ignorant as you have seemed lately. You should be dead," he said. Snape mustered as much energy as he could so he could talk with some dignity. "My Lord. I am thankful for your mercy."

"The only reason I can't dispose of you immediately is because of your ties to Dumbledore. Dumbledore favors you. You can kill him for us. I can't even get close to the idiot," Voldemort said. Severus suppressed a laugh. 'There he goes on again, about the Headmaster.' he thought.

The Dark Lord grew bored with this quickly. "You are forgiven for the time being. I believe there are more matters for us to tend to."

He cleared his throat as Snape walked back to his spot. "I have decided that recently we have been focusing too much on the main people such as the Potter boy and Dumbledore. We need smaller prey for the moment.

"We need to ruin their edge. We need to get the other students," he said. A voice arose from the crowd. "My Lord, if I may."

"Alright. Lucius, what have you to contribute to this?" he said. Lucius cleared his throat. "My boy here has taken an interest in one of Potter's friends." Severus looked up. Harry hung out with two people. Ron, and…

"Hermione Granger is her name. She… she slapped him, and Draco was offended by the mere idea of the mud-blood touching him. She's a book worm and knows her spells very well, but she is a girl, so he should be able to get her," Lucius continued. Severus wanted to say, "More like a school boy crush," but the seriousness of the conversation stopped him.

Voldemort cackled. "Slapped him? He let himself be slapped by a girl?" Nervous chuckles arose from the crowd. Voldemort raised his hand to indicate silence. "Is Draco here?" he asked Lucius. A young boy stepped from the crowd. "I'm right here, my Lord."

"And just what to you plan to do with the Granger girl?" The Dark Lord asked. Draco cleared his throat. "I want to bring her to you to lure Potter to you." On the word 'Potter', he emphasized his disgust.

"I very well know that, you bloody git," snapped Voldemort. "I want to know what you're going to do to her before you take her to me." A grin flashed on the boys face. "I want to get back to her. I will… use a special method of getting information about the Potter boy from her."

Severus quirked his eyebrow. He wanted to rape her, eh? Sounds like a very Malfoy thing to do. He didn't doubt that they had some sort of bondage sexual dungeon in their basement, with all the times Lucius and Draco decided that as their way of getting people to break down.

Voldemort looked at Snape. "Is she one of your students?" he asked. Snape gave a curt nod. "Yes. She is very annoying… an insufferable know-it-all. It'd be great to have her off my hands," he said, wiping off dust from his robes. Severus winced inwardly. That was cold, even for him.

"Very well then. You can have her when you feel the time is right," Voldemort said, waving his hand in dismissal. Draco smiled broadly. "I think we may get her tonight."

Snape's eyes widened. Tonight? Damn! They worked quickly, didn't they?

Voldemort nodded in approval, and began to go on about the usual 'I am going to kill Harry Potter' business. Snape slipped through the crowd. He hated the Granger girl. He always had, and always will. So why was he going to save her?