Night was falling rapidly and shadows were gathering around the doorway of Spinner's End. Inside, Severus Snape was absent-mindedly leafing through a book he had just picked up off the table. Suddenly an invisible bell tolled out a warning. Snape stiffened. There was an intruder trying to get past his wards. In a split second he was up and at his front door, wand at the ready.

Outside a small, bushy-haired bundle was laying on his front path, rendered unconscious by the wards. Snape glanced down the empty street, trying to detect watching eyes, both wizard and muggle. There were none. With a flick of his wand he summoned that of the intruder's, then bound the person and floated them inside.

Once inside he dumped the intruder unceremoniously on the floor and muttered a quick spell to bring some light to the front hall. With a gasp he identified the unconscious bundle. It was none other than Hermione Granger. His eyes gleamed with delight.

Should he report her to his Lord immediately? Or should he question her first. With sadistic pleasure he decided on the latter. His days had been long, stuck in a house with only that fool Pettigrew to torment. Making up his mind, he once again levitated the witch and escorted her up the stairs. He would use the rat's bedroom for interrogation, he decided.

Snape tapped Pettigrew's door, and it swung open. "You, out," said Snape coldly, and before he had time to protest Snape moved in and dumped Granger. "Out," he snarled again, and Pettigrew scampered through the door. Snape locked and warded the door and bound Granger to a chair. When all seemed to be in order, he woke the Gryffindor up. He was extremely curious as to what stupid plan she had concocted, and what part he had to play in it.

Groggily, she shook her head, trying to focus her eyes and dispel the ringing in her ears. That was when she saw the room's other occupant. "Professor Snape!" she exclaimed, looking surprised, then a trifle more composed, she continued, "Thankyou for letting me in Sir. I had a bit of trouble getting past your wards."

"Since my wards are not disabled by spouting passages from textbooks, I am not surprised you failed to gain entrance," Snape said bitingly. "Why are you here, how did you find me and who is with you? If I am to expect a visit from the rest of the Golden Trio or Dumbledore's band of bootlickers I would like to be prepared." Snape would have loved to capture and torture Granger's rescuers all by himself, but he felt obliged to let some of the other Death Eater's join in.

"Oh no sir, I'm on my own." How convenient. "I found you because I found out who your mother was when I was trying to work out who the Half-Blood Prince was, and this was the house she shared with Tobias Snape, so this was one of the places I thought I might find you." Granger beamed up at him, as if waiting to be congratulated on her detective work. Snape's scowl darkened even further. Looking slightly less confident, she went on, "And I'm here because I know that you're on our side."

For a second Snape's scowl disappeared as he stared, slack-jawed in disbelief. Then he laughed. He laughed so hard that he choked and had to lean against the fall for fear of falling. On their side! He was simultaneously delighted that he had played his part as a spy so well and sickened that anybody could be so mind-numbingly stupid. Death was too good for a girl so trusting, so blind, so very Gryffindor.

"Listen, you idiotic child." He said. "I. killed. Dumbledore. Didn't one of your books mention that people usually murder their enemies, not their leaders? What could possibly make you think I am on your side?" Wearied, he leant his aching head against the cool glass of the tinted window. His frustration at her folly was mounting.

Mildly, Hermione said "But you had to kill Dumbledore, sir. You swore an Unbreakable Vow."

Snape whirled around. "How did you know about that?" he hissed.

"Harry found out. He listened to you talking to Malfoy." Hermione admitted. She seemed to be growing a bit concerned that Snape continued to proclaim his guilt. "You shouldn't feel bad about killing Dumbledore sir. After all, he was dying anyway, wasn't he?" She aired this last startling revelation in the tone of someone who is completely sure that what they have guessed is right, even in the absence of anything remotely resembling proof.

Snape was, admittedly, slightly shaken by the utter conviction in her voice. "Did he tell you this?" he enquired. In the back of his mind he knew that he might have to wipe the memory from her brain before he took her to the Dark Lord, lest the knowledge put a tarnish on his achievement.

"No, I worked it out myself," she said proudly. Snape breathed a silent sigh of relief. "After all, you only had to look at his arm to know something was wrong, and…"

Snape cut across her theories. "Your teeth disfigured your face for years, Miss Granger, but that didn't mean you were dying." Deciding that he had heard enough of her tiring excuses for his behaviour, he continued, "And does you clever defence of me include any real facts? Did you stop to wonder why I would willingly join the same side as those putrid pieces of scum, Potter and Black?" He paused, his eyes glowing with malice and evil glee. "The day I betrayed the Potters was one of the happiest days of my life. The day Bella killed Sirius was even better. I have been given power beyond your wildest dreams in reward for killing Dumbledore. And now," he advanced upon Hermione, who was now white with shock and struggling to escape her bonds. "And now I shall deliver you to my Lord, and I will be rewarded again, hopefully by being granted the honour of torturing you into insanity…"

Hermione screamed. Snape listened with pleasure for a moment, and then slapped her. "Save your voice, Mudblood," he said cruelly, delighting in the hurt that crossed her face.

"If I'm a Mudblood then so are you," she said, prompted by a mixture of bravado and insanity.

Snape froze, and his wand hand twitched as if to curse her. Then he relaxed, slowly, his voice sinking dangerously quiet. "You are referring to my muggle father I presume." He knelt down, bringing his face level with Hermione's for the first time. In the same sinister voice, he continued, "Well, the Potter brat doesn't know the meaning of the word discretion, so I don't doubt that he has told you what he saw in my mind." Hermione nodded. Snape clenched his fists. "My father was one of the foulest creatures to ever walk this earth. There is no one I hate more, and nothing that would give me greater joy than to wipe out the rest of his kind. If I had to ally myself with Potter to do so, I would. So you see," he cocked his head to the side, "I have every reason to follow Lord Voldemort, and none whatsoever to join your side."

Snape stood. He had spent long enough with Granger. It was time to report her capture to his Lord, if Pettigrew hadn't done so already. With a quick Stupefy, Granger's head lolled forward. Then he kicked her, because he wanted to. Because let's face it, Snape's an evil bastard.