Notes: this one shot takes place sometime during Snape being headmaster of Hogwarts, Hermione has been captured by the Ministry due to her blood status but is in the process of escaping when more trouble pops up. This is my first post as an author of FanFic so I hope you all enjoy it. Constructive criticism and reviews are welcome.
Edit Note: (sorry about all the notes by the way) A couple of people have been asking if I'm planning to continue this, I can't yet PM you all a reply because I'm on a new account (and I have a feeling a couple of other readers will want to know the answer to that question too) so here's the answer: I did originally want this to be a story and not just a One Shot, however all the ideas I had seemed to crash and burn when I wrote them down until I just got so annoyed with it that everything but this one shot got deleted (I just couldn't bring myself to delete it, mainly because of what Hermione does to Severus, hehe). I am still toying with some ideas around but I have a feeling that unless inspiration decides to hit me in the face, this may just stay as a One Shot. I apologise to all those that wanted me to immediately update this into a story and I wanna thank Fullofpassion09 for bringing the question to my attention and being my first ever reviewer. Thanks to all those that have read and loved this one shot too, your awesome.
Disclaimer: Jk Rowling owns all the characters etc. I make no money from any of this.
Take Flight
Hermione Jean Granger stood frozen to the spot. Adrenalin roared through her veins and she breathed heavily. She should have known something was extremely wrong the instant she ran through the wooden doors without encountering some kind of ward. stupid her mind scolded her as she stared with wide eyes at the long table in the middle of the cold, stone room.
The table was filled to capacity with Death Eaters.
She tightened her grip on the wand in her hand, knuckles turning white, and skipped her light gaze around the room. Her mind raced to weigh and consider the options she had left.
A group of five Aurors were running up the corridor behind her, trying to capture the escaping muggleborn in their midst's. Hermione had noted -while running from the group of Aurors- that there were no windows in the corridor or any other doors apart from the one she had just stepped through. Thoughts about blasting a hole through the corridoor walls were abandoned because she didn't know the layout of this part of the Ministry well enough to say for certain that she would be creating an escape route in the right direction. Hell, she didn't even know which part of the Ministry she was in.
So, the bushy-haired witch had cast a quick Impedimenta behind her to delay the group of Aurors. Panic fuelled her magic enough to make the Impedimenta affect the five wizards chasing her, giving her a couple of seconds to crash into the doors, rip them open and burst into the room.
She regretted not staying in the corridor with the group of Aurors.
The training Mad-Eye Moody instilled into her during various summer holidays spent at the Burrow kicked in. She scanned the room analytically whilst positioning her body into a more advantageous stance, searching for possible escape routes and getting ready for a fight at the same time. A wave of triumph crashed into her as she noticed a couple of large glass windows embedded in the furthest wall.
Well -a voice in her mind chimed, it sounded suspiciously like Ron -there's no bloody point facing a group of rabid Aurors and a load of insane Death Eaters at the same time. Hermione flicked her wand at the wooden doors so they began to shut before any of the Aurors could reach her and warded them. Never one to miss a good opportunity, she took advantage of the shock that had the Death Eaters staring at her immobile and sprinted towards the windows. The sound of her running footsteps shattered the silence that had decended on the room with her appearance.
Too far.
It was almost like a nightmare, one where you could run all you wanted towards your destination yet never gain any distance. A wild feeling born of desperation took hold of her. The windows were too far away; she would never make it to them before at least one of the Death Eaters recovered from their shock.
Hermione's brown eyes glanced again at the table full of the Dark Lords minions. Her heart skipped a beat as her gaze locked with the dark eyes of Severus Snape and her breath hitched in her throat as she then noticed Snape was sat to the left of Lord Voldemort.
The Dark Lord sat regally at the head of the table in a seat that looked more like a throne than a chair. He followed her progress throughout the room with something close to cold amusement in his vermilion eyes. It didn't matter if the windows were too far, she would rather attempt a hopeless escape that go down without a fight. Hermione cast a reducto at the window she was heading towards, smashing the glass into a fine powder and successfully creating a more accessible escape rout. Almost there. Once her new resolve to escape sank in she didn't let herself doubt what she was doing; to doubt was to lose momentum and if she lost her momentum then she would become the next Death Eater plaything.
Hermiones' eyes were drawn to Lord Voldemort once again; she couldn't help it, it was like he had his own gravitational pull. He wasn't doing anything, just sat there. Watching her. Something primal gripped her heart. Voldemort knew she wouldn't escape.
A distant part of her mind also knew she wouldn't escape but she mentally bound and gagged that part of her before it could voice its thoughts. Her left foot stopped on the edge of the windowsill, fine glass powder crackling under her shoes. The primal instinct for survival screamed in joy as the muscles in her legs tensed, getting ready to jump.
For a moment, she felt like she was suspended in the air as the wind whipped through her hair. A feral grin breaking out on her face as she realised she would live.
And then she was yanked backwards violently. Crashing back down to a more dismal reality as an arm wrapped around her waist to tug her back into the room she had almost escaped. So close.
The primal and feral feelings that tore through the young witch so joyously before now turned into a savage scream of anguish. Her wand was ripped from her hand and her escape route was taken away with a silent reparo from somewhere behind her.
Hermione beat furiously against the person who held her back; throwing her weight from side to side to knock of their balance and kicking at anything she could.
The arm around her waist tightened its grip, pulling her flush against a lean, male body.
"Miss Granger-" a deep and even voice drawled near her ear "-stop your foolish actions right now."
Just like that - like a snap of the fingers- the fight left Hermione. It was as if someone had switched off a light, instantly listening to her Professor was too ingrained into her brain to stop it now. She turned around in Professor Snapes arms and stared at his dark eyes, praying -despite that he'd just ruined her chance of escape- that he would somehow protect her like he did with Harry throughout the years in Hogwarts.
A small flicker in his eyes was the only thing that gave her hope. The rest of his expression showed nothing but an icy calmness. Even his voice did not change in tone.
Severus Snape bent his head down and closer to Hermione as if he were going to inspect her face, although he had absolutely no intention to do so. "you're too high up to survive a jump out of the window." he murmered too quietly for anyone to over hear.
Hermione suppressed a shiver as his warm breath tickled her ear. Everything seemed quieter as Snape's presence washed over her; frantic thoughts slowed down, erratic emotions created by the fight or flight instinct were calmed and her breathing evened out. If she hadn't been so shell-shocked by how close she currently stood to her potions professor she would have marvelled at the effect he seemed to have on her.
He smelt nice, kind of musky.
Hermione had the inappropriate urge to laugh as loudly as she could.
As much as she hated to admit it, she hadn't really thought about what would happen after she jumped out of the window. Like a complete dunderhead, she'd just assumed that she could use magic to take away some of the impact of the fall; if the fall was close enough that it would end before she had time to use magic but was still high enough to kill her from the impact then she would have been thoroughly dead had Professor Snape not stopped her. Cold realisation dawned on her, that was why Voldemort hadn't made a move to stop her, he knew she'd either be caught by his Death Eaters or killed from the fall out of the window.
"Petty Potters mudblood pet!" a high pitched (and bordering on hysterical) voice shrieked out. "Quick, kill it Severus!"
A sigh escaped Hermione (honestly, even Malfoy Jr had dished out worse insults than a simple 'mudblood pet') and she saw annoyance flash across Snape's face at the sound of Bellatrix Lestrange's voice before it was once again a smooth, emotionless mask. Hermione wasn't entirely sure Snape would kill her -he had plenty of opportunities to do it already, yet he hadn't. Then again, she still hand't figured out where Snapes' loyalties truely laid. If Snape didn't kill her then one of the others probably would anyway.
A Slytherin-esque smirk twitched up the corners of her lips as an idea worthy of Fred and George struck her. She might as well have her fun before the Death Eaters got her.
With a complicated flick/twist action of Hermione's wrist and a surge of magic, she preformed one of the few wandless spells that she could do. A bloodcurdling scream from her right told her that the transfiguration spell had been successful. Hermione ducked her head to hide her grin but still took a peak from behind her bushy hair. Yep, it had definitely worked.
Bellatrix Lestrange was now completely bald. Upon closer inspection, you could see even her eyebrows and eyelashes had disappeared, a very fuzzy mouse with black hair now sat on her shoulder lazily.
Bellatrix once again let out a scream (at a pitch so high even a banshee would have been jealous) when she noticed the mouse, she batted at it, causing it to jump off her shoulder and run across the floor in panic. Hermione couldn't contain her laughter, even Snape was watching the whole thing with amusement. When Bellatrix figured out that the mouse was her transfigured hair she began chasing after it, throwing various spells that kept missing and screaming profanities aimed at Hermione.
"Her hair, Granger? that was the best you could do?" Snape said absentmindedly as he continued to watch Bellatrix skitter around the floor.
Hermione blew a lock of her own hair out of her face and gave Snape her best indignant look, not that he was looking at her anyway. "At least she looks more like the Dark Lord she worships now."
A smirk graced Snape's mouth, Bellatrix halted abruptly and looked at Hermione with wide, hopeful eyes. "I do?" she asked in that ridiculously shrill voice.
"Indeed." Snape answered for Hermione. He could even see a couple of blue veins traced under the pale skin of her bald head, just like the Dark Lord.
"ssstop thiss inssolence now." The hissed command made a ripple of unease travel over all those seated at the table in the middle of the room. The unmistakable force and veiled threat that laced the Dark Lords words made Severus internally wince, although he showed no sign of it, and caused Bellatrix Lestrange to instantly freeze up.
A heavy moment of silence followed suit, one which had Hermione looking back and forth from Voldemort to Snape. The flames of the candles floating in the air near the stone walls even sputtered slightly, as if the tense atmoshpere was smothering them.
Severus knew that if he did not do something quickly to show his submissivness then it would seem like he was challanging the Dark Lords command; something which would no doubt end with him on the recieving end of the Crutiatus curse.
Snape gave a low bow to his master- low enough that it almost verged on mocking the Dark Lord he'd pledged his alliance to- before grabbing the top of Granger's arm and striding back to his seat at the table, dragging a stumbling Hermione beside him. Although it pained him to admit it, Severus Snape had come to realise the potential that the Gryffindor Know-It-All had as he'd spent time at 12 Grimmauld Place during business with the Order. Unlike the other fools, Snape realised the important role Hermione Granger had played in helping Potter survive long enough to actually enounter the Dark Lord. And now, oddly enough, he found himself rather reluctant to let his fellow Death Eaters or the Dark Lord snuff out her life.
Severus ensured that he was cloaked in an icy calmness as he sat back down in his chair, burying his worry and amusement at this whole fiasco deeply under the armour he'd wrapped around his mind. He watched with precision as Bellatrix sat back down-the transfigured mouse momentarily forgotten in the face of her Lords command- and as Granger stood beside his chair, shifting her weight from one foot to the other awkwardly.
Lord Voldemort was examining Hermione, or, at least, she thought he was examining her, she couldn't really tell for sure, considering that she refused to look in his direction but, judging from the creepy Something-Bad-Is-Watching-Me feeling that was making the hairs on her arms raise, she was pretty certain that he was doing something that concerned her.
Maybe he was waiting for her to spontaneously combust.
If he was, then he would be sorely disappointed. Hermione wasn't planning on being set on fire anytime soon. Although- she mused -it would be entertaining to see how many Death Eaters I could set on fire too before burning out. Hermione's shoulders slumped in defeat, the hair thing with Bellatrix (although extremely amusing) hadn't really bought her any time and her former potions Professor didn't suddenly whisk her away to saftey. Hermione supposed her time of death was looming close. She could only hope that Harry and Ron wouldn't do something stupid in retribution, it was just her luck that they'd all die because of her mistake.
Perhaps if she bought even more time then she could figure out a way to get out of this. Hell, she'd even try wandless magic to blast holes through the walls if no other option presented itself. It was with a newly renewed will to live and a slightly hysterical resolve to avoid Torture Time with the Death Eaters that Hermione Granger did something that she would never have even considered before.
She plonked herself down on Severus Snape's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, her face drained of all colour before flushing a bright crimson with embarassment.
She could feel his muscles tense in surprise at the sudden physical contact with another human being.
The urge to laugh rose up in her again.
He was rather comfortable to sit on.
"What do you think you are doing?" Snape breathed out through his shock as he struggled to maintain the icy calmness shielding his mind. The noise of Death Eater jaws dropping to the floor sounded around them.
"Well, I'm sitting on you of course." Hermione replied haughtily and gave him a weak smile, hoping that he realised what she was trying to do. "sitting on the lap of the infamous Severus Snape is a once in a lifetime opportunity; mainly because you probably killed anyone who ever tried it before." At this, Hermione noticed a few supressed smirks from the ensemble of Dark Lord minions.
"Besides-" Hermione added more seriously and quietly "- if I ever manage to get out of this alive and I feel in the need of some hero worship then I could tell the story of how I sat on the lap of Severus Snape and lived to tell the tale." She was shocked to see realisation dawn in his eyes, she hadn't quite expected him to work out her scheme of buying some time by shocking all the Death Eaters so quickly. Hermione knew she shouldn't be so suprised though, she'd long ago acknowledged that Snape had a very sharp and intelligent mind.
When Hermione had first realised Severus Snape was also a spy for Dumbledore she had begun to grudgingly admire the man she currently sat on. She hated the cheesiness of it but still couldn't stop herself from comparing him to the stars that she used to study in astronomy lessons -though she knew he would resent being compared to a star- he was often cold and distant, always surrounded by some form of darkness and yet he still burned with his own kind of light, his own kind of silent strength, of this she had no doubt. Whilst at 12 Grimmauld Place she'd often wondered at how much strength and steel will it must take for him to remain following a path of light whilst constantly being pushed into the company of Lord Voldemort.
Using the pretence of resting her head on his should, she made sure that her hair covered her mouth from sight. "Can we not apparate out of here?" she whispered too quietly, ensuring others couldn't eavesdrop.
"No" Severus responded in an equally quiet whisper, hardly moving or parting his mouth at all.
The muscles in Hermione's jaw tensed in annoyance, she'd assumed there would be Anti-apparation wards in place but it never hurt to check. She was out of options, evey time she tried to think of more escape solutions her mind drew a blank.
"Why has the mudblood not been killed yet?" Lucius Malfoy piped up after recovering from his shock, eyeing Hermione disgustedly.
Ugh, Malfoys. She hated them all.
Severus turned his head to pierce Malfoy with a blank stare down the table. "If you are idiotic enough not to realise the potential uses of keeping Potters friend alive then you do not deserve to serve our Dark Lord." There- Severus leaned back in his chair satisfied, pulling Hermione with him because she hadn't yet let go of his neck- at least now he had found a reason for them all not to immediately kill Granger. He just had to hope that the Dark Lord would also see the benefits that keeping her alive would provide.
Arguements broke out amongst all the Death Eaters gathered at the table...well, all of them appart from Fenrir Greyback whos scruffy hair bristled and mouth drooled at the prospect of being allowed to eat Hermione. Snape watched them all, picking out some of the good points they brought up and thinking of counter arguments. His amusement re-surfaced again. Fools he thought cynically their squabbling will not make the Dark Lord favour their opinions.
A high pitched, chilling hiss echoed throughout the room, effectively shutting up everyone who previously had their mouth open.
"Sseveruss isss quite right, for now none of you sshall harm the mudblood. Sshe still hass her ussesss."