After making sure Severus was sat down and not likely to run off, Hermione darted out of the reception room in search of someone in charge. Although she was quite high up herself, it wasn't just her responsibility to make sure people were safe to let in. She had no fears that he'd be judged otherwise, he'd be valuable to their cause, but she couldn't admit him on her own. She roamed the stark, white halls, looking for someone who would be able to help. It didn't take long. Poking her head into the common room, she saw Harry chatting away with Moody about something.

"Harry!" she squealing, knowing her excitement showed in her voice.

"Jesus Hermione," Harry said. He stood and looked over her, concern echoed in his green eyes, "What's wrong."

"Look, I'll explain everything, stop gawping and come with me."

"I'll come too," Moody said.

"Yes! That'll be great." Without further conversation, she turned on her heels and headed back to the room where she'd left Severus. Her heart began to pound as they approached the door and she couldn't keep silent any more. Pausing as she walked, the other two stopped behind her. "I should probably explain a little."

"Would be nice Hermione," Harry said. A frown had marred his face and his arms were folded over his chest.

"I found someone while I was out," she started. Moody fixed her with his roving eye as she shifted from foot to foot. Wiping her sweaty palms on her trousers, she had no idea why she was suddenly feeling so off.

"Who did you find?" Moody growled.

"Look, don't fly off the handle or anything," she said as they approached the office. She swallowed; despite how dry her throat had become and stepped through the door. Taking a seat beside her erstwhile professor, she folded her hands in her lap. She watched as Harry's eyes widened just as Moody's narrowed.

"She found me, Mr Potter," Severus said. For this first time, he sounded like had back in the classroom and Hermione bit back a smile. Moody recovered first.

"Severus?" His deep frown was marred only by the enlarged eyeball that insisted on roaming the room.

"Yes Alistair," he nodded. Hermione noted that his expression was back to the impassive mask it had always been and she folded her arms over her chest. Giving Harry a nudge, it startled him out of his shock and he shook his head.

"Sorry, I'm just a little… surprised to see you." Harry said. He moved to the other side of the small room and sank behind the desk. Moody followed. Hermione swallowed again, hoping to whatever God would listen, that they'd accept him like she said they would. "How have you been?"

Severus looked down at his tattered clothes; she knew he looked far from his best and that would shock Harry almost as much as him being there alive. "How do you think?" he replied.

"Where were you?" This time, it was Moody who spoke. His arms were folded over his narrow chest and his eyes were wary.

"Wandering, alone." Severus said. He didn't offer any elaboration on his whereabouts and Hermione felt a stone form in her stomach.

"For five years?"

"Correct."

Silence descended. Harry shifted in his seat and Moody just glared. Hermione coughed. "Look, I know there's a lot of unresolved issues between us all but I don't think we should let one of our own wander about out there alone," she said. Moody turned his eye to her but Harry looked thankful that she'd spoken. "A lot has changed since we last saw Severus. The least we can do is offer aid to one of the most brilliant minds the wizarding world knows."

"Quite right," Harry said. There was a smile on his face again and she let out a small sigh. Moody nodded too, which surprised her. "I'm sure you're keen to get cleaned up and such. Hermione, would you be able to show Severus to one of the cells?" he asked. She nodded willingly, happy enough that they seemed to have allowed him to stay.

"We'll discuss this," Moody said. His tone was flat and he turned to Harry, who just nodded.

"Come on," she gestured to Severus who had fallen silent once more. He rose and followed her from the room. Her fists clenched and relaxed as she walked. They walked through the mostly empty prison. Evidence of other people living there was confined to the cells. A few personal items made each one unique and the place had a general lived in feel to it. At the end of the block, were a few vacant cells, all of which were open. "You may as well pick one," she said with a quick wave of her hand.

"Who has the keys?" he asked before he even looked at them.

"Harry has a set, there's one in the first cell which also has a few things in it for everyone's use. Like extra blankets and the like. These cell doors are never locked, the outer doors are sealed at night and so are most of the internal ones, in case there is a breach overnight." Hermione explained as he began to look around.

"How many people are there here?" he asked.

"Fourteen, not counting you."

"All the time?"

"Of course not. There are always patrols going out during the day and often, many of us are out searching for clues, knowledge or anything that may well give us a clue as to what happened." Hermione explained. "Currently, there's not that many of us here."

He selected one of the cells; furthest from anyone else's and set his pack onto the floor. The knife followed and he sat on the edge of the bed. Hermione watched as a flicker of an intense emotion washed over his face for a moment. As soon as it appeared, it was gone and she shook her head. He rose, flicking oily hair back from his face and caught her eye, "What?" he asked somewhat defensively. Her heart quickened at being caught witnessing the emotion and she felt a flush rise on her cheeks, yet she didn't know why.

"I'll show you where the shower room is." She managed to stammer out before turning on her heel and striding off. His footsteps echoed behind her, at least he was following!

The shower room was nothing like they'd had at Hogwarts but it wasn't unpleasant. She knew he would relish the thought of being clean again and the expression on his face was a picture when he saw it. Hermione pulled a towel from the nearby rail and handed it to him with a nod. "If you put your clothing in that basket there, it'll be cleaned for you."

"I'm not sure what will be left once it's been done," he muttered as he took the towel.

"There's clean clothes in the hamper just there," she pointed to it and he nodded, "We don't often get people from the outside but when we do find them, they often need new thing to wear." The image of him walking around naked made her flush slightly and she dismissed it back to where it came from. He looked over at the stalls and nodded. "I'll wait for you just out there, take as long as you want though, I have a book."

"You have books?" This time, there was no mistaking the spark in his eyes. She nodded and some of the tension seemed to leave him.

"Not many b-"

"As long as it's not Jane Eyre…" he muttered, cutting her off. She looked a little puzzled at that but smiled anyway

"We'll visit the library after you're clean ok?"

"Don't you wish to shower too?" he asked finally.

"More than anything but unless you're completely comfortable with me in there with you, I shall wait until later." His slight flush and open mouth told him everything and she turned away with a smirk.

"Hermione…" She looked back over her shoulder and raised a brow, "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

He didn't reappear for a good forty five minutes. Hermione didn't mind, she could remember how she was when they'd first had showers at their disposal. She'd showered daily, sometimes twice, for nearly a month until Harry had told her it was rather excessive. She ran her hand through her curly hair and snorted, it was getting long again, reaching past her shoulders. At first, the boys had tried to convince her to get it cut short, like Tonks' hair but there was no way she could do it. She'd tried to tell them that although the world had changed, she still wanted to feel like a woman on occasion.

Severus reappeared wearing an oversized pair of black jeans and an enormous polo neck black jumper. She smiled at the look on his face, something between a scowl and a frown, "Nothing else even remotely fit," he grunted.

"How do you feel?" she asked. He looked at her stunned for a moment and she clapped him lightly on the bicep.

"Clean," he said.

"Library then?"

"Don't you wish to shower first?" She flushed a little, taking this to mean that she didn't smell too pleasant after their time on the road and she nodded. "I will wait for you here." She scooted into the shower without another word and set about cleaning both her body and her hair. It never took her all that long and within fifteen minutes, she stood before him once more, clean with her hair wrapped in a towel. "Better?"

"Yes," she replied, "I probably smell it too!"

"That's not what I meant," he said dryly. She gave a little shrug before smiling again.

"Now, the library isn't much," she said as they started walking again, "But it's what we have and I find comfort there more than anywhere else." He only gave a curt nod as they walked through the prison. The room she stopped at looked like a classroom with heavy bars on the windows. Although the room was gloomy, she knew there were plenty of books on the shelves. "Go and have a look round," she encouraged as she leaned against the doorjamb. She was trying to judge his reaction from his carefully schooled face but he gave nothing away. With a small sigh, she followed him into the room.