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CHAPTER 6

''Mione, 'Mione?' Ron lightly touched Hermione's shoulder, bringing her out of whatever thoughts she had drifted into.

'Mm?' She blinked, before smiling weakly at him. 'Sorry, just… drifting I guess.'

'Still trying to figure out what is going on with Harry?'

'No, I figured that out a few days ago,' Ron sighed, and gave a look that said of course, she smiled a little more warmly at him. 'I was actually wondering about Snape, what could he have done to get Voldermort-' Ron sucked in a breath, glaring, Hermione pointedly ignored it. '-so royally pissed that he would do that to him, or if he was found out; it begs the question; why is he still alive?'

Ron blinked, he hadn't even been thinking about Snape, why should he? He was still a greasy git in his books. Someone who never would be worth worrying over.

Still… it was a good question.

'Maybe, whatever they are doing now, well, I don't know.' He quickly cut himself off, scratching his head lightly.

'Out with it Ron, you and ideas usually don't come together. Well, when they do, the usually don't make sense, so anything you have come up with must be pretty good.' Hermione teased, earning her another glare.

'Well, I know that a while ago, they-they used to cast curses and things, irreversible ones, that would pretty much ruin the mind of whoever it was cast on, then the relatives were left to sort out whatever was left. Some versions act like crucius, but instead of ruining the mind, they are a sort of never-ending torture to the body, I thought maybe…' He trailed off, frowning at the thought.

'That, that is awful, wouldn't it be more merciful just to end it for them?' Hermione looked slightly sickened at this bit of information she had never come across.

He looked her directly in the eye. 'Hermione, would you be able to kill one of your parents? If you had a sister, and you had to do it, would you?' The intensity in his gaze frightened her a little.

'I don't-'Understanding suddenly filled her eyes. 'It… Ron, it didn't… in your…' She stared up at him.

'It did.' He whispered. 'Fred and George aren't- weren't the only twins, and Gin wasn't the only girl in the family. It happened to her when we were only seven.' He scrubbed at an eye. 'Mum cried for three days straight and Dad didn't go to work for a week. Gin and I didn't really get what was going on, but the rest of them did, though we were too young to understand, sothey didn't bother explaining until we were a little older. Then we found out why Marie wasn't around to play with anymore.' Hermione winced, and, after a moment, she moved up beside him, hugging him tightly.

'That is awful Ron… your twin… I am so sorry. How, did Ginny take it?' She had a sudden sick curiosity, to have such a thing happen…

'I don't think she really remembers, we never talk about it, the anniversary of the day she was taken was five days ago, and I guess, I don't know, it really has been bothering me.' He closed his eyes. 'Tomorrow was the day that they… that she died.'

They stayed sitting quietly together for a good twenty minutes, Hermione had a tight hold on him and Ron leaned into her, both nearly dozing, before they heard something.

The pair slowly stood, Ron trying to hide the tears in his eyes. Whoever was nearby, well, it didn't matter who it was. No one would see Ron Weasley cry

Of course, after the past twenty minutes Hermione was excluded from .

'Drat a thousand times over.' Came an all to familiar snarl, of…

'Professor Snape? The pair said in unison, poking their heads around the corner.

'What? Oh, Mister Weasley, Miss Granger, what do you want?' His face had an odd sour look to it. Well, not that the look was odd, but it had an almost waxy tint to it.

'You should get Professor Dumbledore to reinforce the clone spell, the image seems to be slipping.' Hermione said casually, glancing at the unnaturally waxy skin.

Silence reigned.

'You… both know I am a stand-in of sorts then.' He said.

'Professor Dumbledore explained it all when we saw you in the hospital wing.'

'Ah.' The fake Potions' Master muttered, glancing at the pair. 'Well… what else do you two know?'

Hermione and Ron glanced at one another, debating.

'Well, Harry has returned, not in the best of shape, but he's back.'

'Harry…Potter, miscreant of Gryffindor, usually with you two, Seeker for your house team-' He muttered on a moment, as if reciting from a book.

'Uh, yeah, that about sums it up I guess.' Ron muttered, blinking.

The conversation only got stranger.

'Would you two… ah… like to help me in my research?' A pause. 'Records show that you two work as a formidable research team.'

So it would seem that their 'secret' library visits over the years were well known.

'Well, um, sure, I guess that would be alright. What were you looking up?' Hermione timidly asked, never picturing herself going about helping Snape search, anything up. Albeit this was a fake who wouldn't know exactly how to act…

Still…

'I was trying to find a way that might stop the curse that was cast on Professor Snape, as you guessed.' He said automatically, glancing back into the book for a moment before tossing it onto a steadily growing pile in front of him.

Ron gave a small choking sound, Hermoine touched his arm, knowing that even he wouldn't wish the fate of his sister on the 'greasy git'. He gave a weak smile.

'Professor Dumbledore gave it to me as a sort of… busy body thing to do, keep me out of trouble or some such…' He sighed. 'Just because I'm a clone doesn't mean I don't have a brain.' He muttered, looking quite displeased.

Hermione and Ron shared another look. This was too weird, bordering on paranormal

'Of course, Professor, what can we do to help?'

'Well, read.' Came the rather blank reply.

'Of course.' Hermione gave a nod to Ron, who immediately walked over to the section on curses, hexes, and their reversals. 'Professor,'

'Severus.'

'What?'

'I hate all that stuffy Professor business, call me Severus.'

Hermione blinked, that was an interesting thing to say, it wasn't exactly an emotion but…

Maybe a slightly altered version of the cloning spell? Whatever it was, it was neat.

'Uh, sure, we can call you that, Pr-Severus, only outside of class though.'

'Done.' A grin adorned the fake's face.

Creepy. Came a small thought in Hermione's mind, she glanced up as Ron came back with an armload of books.

'What about the Restricted Section? I bet there are loads of books on this stuff in there, we do however need a teachers signed permission…' Two sets of eyes fell on Snape.

'What?' He blinked, staring between the two.

'Care to make a quick note so we can look at more books?' In a few moments they had had him signing a piece of paper after they told him what to write.

'Be back in a minute.' Ron grinned, before heading off.

Madame Pince, however was as bitchy as they remembered,

possibly more so.

'This is real then? No forgery?'

'Professor Snape is sitting in the back of the library if you want to ask him yourself.'

A pause, after a moment she sighed.

'Fine, fine, come along then.'

Ron was ushered into the area and carefully searched, quickly coming upon the books he was looking for.

There were a lot.

He carefully charmed two shelves of them out of their respectful places and walked, setting them down on the table.

'There is more, I can get them when this lot is finished with.' He said matter of factly, showing no sign of the pain he had been in earlier over this very subject.

'I take it you two know this place backwards and forwards?' A pair of smiling nods. 'All the easier then.'

With that, the trio set about the search.

Ashes of Stars: Hope ya enjoyed the chapter, love your stuff

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