Four weeks had passed since Hermione's return from London and she and Snape's argument had left her in tears. Four weeks that were quite unlike any other weeks before them. The first week after their argument, things had been tense and uncomfortable. But they'd eventually found their way back to their quiet, slightly-uncomfortable but still-bearable way of life that had begun when they first started running together rather than apart. That week, Hermione had gone out and found more herbs and caught more fish, but their meals no longer consisted only of eggs, watercress, and aquatic animals. She'd spent the entire time wishing she was with Ron or Harry, or both of them. Or maybe even Neville or Luna. Anyone would be better than Snape. Living with him was a nightmare.

The second week after their argument, Hermione lightened up quite a bit. She decided to put the past behind them and started to focus on planning how often she should make trips to London. But while she had successfully shoved thoughts of her parents and friends out of her mind for the moment, Snape hadn't come around just yet, and he maintained his previous cold silence.

In truth, Severus wasn't angry with her as much as he was confused at her actions. During the first week after their argument, he'd given her as much space as he could to work out whatever she needed to. But the entire time, he was studying her. By the second week after their argument, he thought he'd figured out what had happened to her parents. He was quite sure that they were still alive but assumed that something had to have happened to them during the war. However, he didn't think they'd been attacked or sent to Saint Mungo's, so he was unsure about what exactly had happened to them. Perhaps Granger had gotten emotional and started crying because she missed her parents and was being forced to stay away from them. Yes, that had to be it. But then, what did they think their daughter was doing that was so important that she couldn't come to visit them? Did they know that she was a wanted fugitive and that they were most likely being watched by the Ministry of Magic themselves?

And during that single week of giving Granger as much space as possible, he'd gotten quite used to living in silence. And, though he would never admit it, he was becoming increasingly fascinated and interested with Granger, as studying and observing her closely had brought new things about her to his attention. He was beginning to notice things about her that he had never been aware of before, little things that he wouldn't have bothered with if he hadn't been watching her so closely.

The third week after their argument, Hermione finally got Snape to talk again, and they briefly discussed how often Hermione would go to London—or some other town—for supplies and food and whatever they needed. However, this discussion lasted only a matter of moments and as soon as it was over, silence reigned once more. They were quiet for most of that week.

Even as the fourth week slipped by, they spoke only as much as was necessary. Hermione was finding that she was oddly all right with the quiet, and realized how accustomed to it she had become whenever they did speak and their voices seemed unnecessarily loud.

Severus continued to study her, finding more and more which he'd never cared to notice before. And for some reason, the little things he was finding were actually interesting and held his attention. He had been a spy for almost his entire life, and was very good at keeping his watchfulness a secret from the object of his fascination, but unbeknownst to him, she was still uncannily aware of him and his every move; she knew that he was watching her. And this awareness of him was helpful to her, because she was watching him, too, and she could tell when he was about to look up or glance her way, and when she should drop her gaze or look back at whatever she was doing. And just the same, he was aware of the fact that she was studying him, but most of her watching went unnoticed.

So they lived quietly, speaking rarely and watching always. They moved to a new location each week, even if they were retracing the steps of the horcrux hunt over and again. And all the while, they were engaged in a silent, unspoken battle that neither had intended to enter, a contest of who could watch and observe without being seen or caught.

Hermione set two plates of food on the table and sat down. Snape seated himself across from her a moment later and they began to eat without a word to one another. Hermione kept her eyes on her food and didn't look up at him even though she could feel his gaze on her. She'd grown rather used to knowing that he was watching her, and it wasn't even unsettling or strange anymore. In a way, she'd ceased to care, but at the same time she realized that she would actually be concerned if he suddenly stopped watching her as avidly as he was now.

She had been secretly hoping with all her heart that Harry would show up again and bring her some kind of news from the Ministry or something new about the Weasleys, or the Order of the Phoenix. She would be happy if all he did was show up, even with no news at all. She missed him even more than she missed Ron, which she had at first thought strange. But after puzzling over it for quite a while, she'd given up and simply assumed that since she'd ended things with Ron, they'd grown apart, while she and Harry were somehow still best friends and close as ever.

As always, Snape rose from his seat and left the tent for his evening walk, and Hermione cleaned the dishes and put away whatever food was left in her beaded bag. When this was finished, Hermione pocketed her bag and went to kneel beside the chickens' cages to make sure that they had food and water. When she had cared for them she rose and walked to her compartment in the tent. She didn't need to glance at the entrance to the tent to know exactly how many paces away from it Snape was standing. Closing the curtains to her room behind her, she set her bag on the bedside table with her wand and lay down, not bothering to change out of her robes. She was so used to sleeping in them and magically smoothing and fixing them in the morning that she hadn't spent a night in her pajamas in quite a long while.

Severus returned to the tent a while later, going straight to his compartment and closing the curtains without so much as a glance around the rest of the tent. He set his wand on his own bedside table and lay down. The dying fire cast wavering shadows over the interior of the tent and on the curtains that led to the two separate compartments, but the witch and wizard paid the shadows no attention, though both of them were still awake.

Another uneventful week passed, quietly and without incident. Hermione was at the edge of the lake where they were camped, standing with her bare feet in a place where the shallowest water could lap at her bare feet. She tossed a smooth stone at the water, and it skipped twice. She smiled sadly, remembering when Ron and Harry had taught her how to skip rocks. She threw another rock, but this time it hit the water once, splashing loudly, and sank immediately. She turned to look to her right, where a large group of trees were growing right on the edge of the water. There were several large boulders there as well, and she thought she'd heard something moving between the trees and the rocks.

But nothing showed, and she reminded herself that Snape had cast the enchantments around their camp to reach the water's edge, so she was still safe and invisible. Sighing, she looked back out over the water. She picked up three more flat rocks and threw the first one at the water, watching with a satisfied smirk when it skipped three times. She managed to skip the second rock as well, but produced only another loud splash with the third. She turned sharply and watched with wide eyes when something hit the water loudly to her right. She was quite sure that whatever had just hit the water had been thrown from behind the nearest boulder, which was only a matter of feet away from where she stood, though it was outside of the protective enchantments. She stared once more when a rock flew from behind the boulder and skipped four times across the water before sinking.

Who was skipping rocks at the lake? Hermione was quite sure that no one had been to the place where they were camped in a very long time, and it wasn't a particularly nice day, so why anyone would be near the water at a time like this was unfathomable to her. Still within the protective enchantments, she resisted the urge to go and see who the intruder was and instead backed away from the water and sat down to put her shoes back on and wait and see if whoever had come was going to skip more rocks. And they did. Whoever was hiding behind the boulder skipped four more rocks and then there was silence. Hermione waited for a long while before deciding that the intruder must have left.

So she stood again, picking up several rocks as she did, and began skipping them once more. She'd just skipped her third when yet another rock flew from behind the boulder and skipped across the water, followed closely by another rock. Hermione frowned at the boulder. Who was behind it? And what were they doing? Had they seen her rocks skipping across the water and wondered where they were from, or were they simply skipping their own, oblivious to her presence?

She waited a while longer, and the mysterious rock-skipper behind the boulder made no move. So she stopped to consider things for a moment. Even if the person behind the rock saw her rocks skipping across the water, if they decided to come investigate then the protective enchantments around the camp would compel the unwanted intruder to leave and perhaps cause him to forget why he'd come looking in the first place. It seemed highly unlikely that the person behind the boulder was anyone special or anything more than a muggle out for a stroll. So Hermione took a chance and skipped another rock across the water.

As soon as her rock had sunk beneath the surface, another rock skipped out from behind the boulder. She chose to ignore this, and skipped a second rock. Likewise, a second rock followed it from behind the boulder. She waited, and no more rocks appeared from behind the boulder. But as soon as she threw a rock, a new one would follow it. Frowning, she took out her beaded bag and pulled the invisibility cloak from it. She pocketed the bag again and put on the cloak, watching as her body disappeared beneath her. Pulling the hood of the cloak up to cover her head, she stepped out of the protective enchantments and moved as quietly as she could, making her way around the boulder with her wand drawn.

It's just a muggle, she thought to herself over and again. It's just a muggle. It's just a muggle. It's just a muggle.

But it wasn't. She nearly fell over in surprise when she came around the boulder and found someone dressed in dark wizard's robes, leaning against a tree and tossing a small stone from hand to hand. Hardly daring to breathe, she moved to the left, right against the boulder; she needed to see the face of the unknown wizard, whose head was concealed by the hood of his cloak. She stepped carefully, but had to keep her eyes both on her feet and on the wizard, who was standing so close that if he should reach out his hands or suddenly move forward, he would touch her or they would collide. And since her eyes were busy and in two places at once, she didn't step carefully enough. She set her foot on a loose rock and it moved, causing her to twist her ankle badly. She managed to grab ahold of the boulder behind her and regain her balance, but it would be impossible to silently navigate her way back to the protective enchantments on one foot. So she froze.

She clung to the rock with her left hand and pointed her wand at the wizard with her right. She resisted the urge to sigh or make any noise at the thought of how furious Snape would be when he found out what kind of situation she'd gotten herself into, if she wasn't caught and ever made it back to the tent. Then again, if she did make it back, she could just say that she'd been clumsy while walking on the rocks. But part of her knew that if she tried to lie to Snape, he would know that there was more she wasn't telling him. Just as she would have known if he tried to lie to her or hide something from her. They were too keenly aware of each other and had studied each other too much to miss something like that.

She shifted her weight just a bit, trying to balance better on her one foot, but slipped. She grasped desperately at the rock behind her, but succeeded only at scratching her fingers and hand. She watched the wizard, not taking her eyes off of him even though she knew that without her eyes, she would never find a hand hold and keep herself from falling. But her fingers found a crevice to grip, and she stopped herself from falling at the wizard's feet. Of course, he'd heard her hand scrabbling desperately against the rock and her feet slipping on the wet and mossy rock, and he turned away from the water to look at the place where she'd been standing. When he turned to face her, she could clearly see his face, and she was simultaneously so shocked and relieved that she let go of the rock and fell on her back. The hood of the invisibility cloak fell away from her head, and she knew she'd been caught, but it didn't matter anymore because she knew who was standing beside her.

"Hermione!" He pulled back his hood as soon as he saw her face. He sounded both pleased and concerned to see her.

"Hello," she said quietly as she tried to get back to her feet without hurting her left ankle further.

He laughed and held out a hand even though he couldn't see her body. But she shook her head. "I twisted my ankle," she explained. So she managed to get out of the invisibility cloak and he helped her carefully to her feet.

She pointed her wand at her ankle. "It's not broken, just twisted. Episkey." And with that, she was fine. "All right," she said, giving him a quick hug, "I suppose you didn't just show up to skip rocks and confuse me?"

It felt good to laugh and smile again as they walked towards the enchantments. Hermione spoke the password and watched the enchantments close behind them and they walked to the tent, which she entered first. Snape was sitting at the table, gazing blankly at the wall, and Hermione knew that his mind was far away from the camp. But as soon as she entered, he blinked and turned his gaze to them. He looked their guest up and down, and inclined his chin ever so slightly before looking away. "Potter."

"Sir."

Hermione duplicated her chair and sat beside Harry, waiting for him to explain the reason for his visit. "You probably guessed," he said, "but I didn't just come to say 'hello'."

Hermione nodded.

He reached into his robes and pulled out an envelope sealed with a familiar red wax seal. "Here," he said, setting it on the table in front of Hermione. "It's from Kingsley."

"Kingsley?" she asked, picking up the envelope and looking it over.

Harry nodded. "He said it was urgent that I got this to you right away."

Hermione nodded, but she'd already broken the seal and started reading, so she only heard half of what Harry was saying.

Harry sat back and waited for her to read, and while he waited, he glanced at Snape. The older wizard seemed quite interested in the contents of the letter now that he knew it was from the Minister of Magic.

Harry returned his gaze to Hermione when she gasped quietly, but she kept on reading and didn't explain. When she had finished reading, she set the letter down on the table and leaned back in her chair, staring into space for a moment. Snape and Harry waited in silence for her to say something, and it was several long moments before she spoke.

"I'm going to the Ministry of Magic."

Harry didn't have anything but air in his mouth, and yet he nearly choked. "What?!" he spluttered.

Hermione handed him the letter. "Kingsley's found a way to prove me innocent. He needs to meet me in his office at the Ministry," she explained.

Harry read as she explained further, and when he finished, he handed the letter back to her and shook his head. "It's too dangerous," he said.

But Hermione shook her head as well. "No, it's not. We have the invisibility cloak, Harry! You'll go to the Ministry, and I'll come with you, but I won't be visible and we'll pass to Kingsley's office without trouble. And even if they catch us, Kingsley said in the letter that he's made it official; if any witch or wizard sees me on my way to the Ministry, they are to leave me be and let me go."

Harry seemed like he wanted to say more, but he didn't open his mouth. Instead, his brow creased and he turned to look at Snape, who hadn't said a word. But the eyes of the man who had once been their potions master were focused on some distant point, and he didn't appear to notice Harry's glance his way.

"C'mon, Harry," Hermione said, causing him to look back to her, "it won't be so bad. Who knows, maybe I'll leave the Ministry as a free witch without the law on her tail!"

Harry noticed that Snape looked at Hermione when she spoke, and she returned his gaze for just a moment. Then the older wizard looked away again.

So they left the tent together, with Hermione hidden beneath the invisibility cloak and Harry walking, completely visible, beside her. They apparated right into London, which surprised Hermione. When she asked Harry about it, he said, "The Ministry made a new law, so that no one could apparate into London or any of the towns of the wizarding world. They wanted to catch you, see. But witches and wizards kept forgetting or making mistakes and caterwauling charms were being set off all over the place, so the Ministry had to take back their law and remove the charms. It got to be too much of a hassle, what with them splitting up and flying to find out if any of the charms had gone off because of you or Snape. And they realized that by the time they showed up, you two would have been long gone and hiding or sneaking around anyways."

Hermione nodded and stepped so that she was walking behind Harry; people were passing closely by his side and she would have bumped into one of them because they couldn't see her. She and Harry found their way to the telephone booth and stepped inside. Harry stepped forward and dialed "62442," and they received their passes. A moment later the booth began to move and they sank into the ground.

Hermione knew that she would not be stopped if she entered the Ministry visibly, but kept the invisibility cloak on anyway, just to be safe. She didn't, after all, want an escort of aurors and guards who would follow her around to make sure she stayed out of trouble.

She and Harry stepped out of the phone booth and made their way to the nearest lift. She followed closely at his heels and he led the way, and the lift wasn't terribly crowded, so Hermione just watched carefully to avoid being run into or stepped on. When they reached the proper floor they went on their way, eventually standing in front of the large doors to Kingsley's office. But before Harry could knock on the doors or ask a nearby auror if Kingsley had time for a short meeting, the Minister came around a corner. He was looking down at some papers, but glanced up and brightened when he saw Harry.

"Ah, Mister Potter," he said, raising his eyebrows and pushing open the door to his office, which he held as Harry walked in.

Hermione noticed that he glanced down and appeared to be reading the papers in his hands, giving her a few extra moments to slip through the door after Harry. The Minister seemed to hear her soft, carefully-placed footsteps and entered the office after her, closing and locking the door behind him. Hermione glanced around to be sure that it was just her, Kingsley, and Harry in the room, and then pulled the hood of the cloak back.

Kingsley nodded to her, but the warm smile he'd worn in the hall outside of his office was now gone. "We needn't hurry, for I'm not short on time," he said, "but this shouldn't take long. Please, have a seat," and he waved a hand at the two chairs in front of his desk. He moved to sit behind his desk just as Hermione and Harry seated themselves, and set the papers he'd been carrying on his desk. Then he looked up at them.

It was Harry who spoke first, and Hermione sensed how impatient he was. "You said in the letter that you had found a way to prove Hermione innocent."

"In a manner of speaking, yes," the Minister replied. He seemed pensive as he turned his eyes to Hermione. "We wouldn't be proving your innocence as much as recognizing that you were confused and tired and had just been through a battle when you attacked the Ministry aurors. We're really just finding a way to get you forgiven and to have the charges against you withdrawn."

Hermione nodded. "What do I have to do?"

I haven't updated in over a month and I feel terrible about it. But I've honestly been extremely busy with finishing this semester of school and being involved in several programs I now wish I'd never signed up for! I know this chapter was very short, but I promise I'll make it up to you all; I will start writing the next chapter as soon as I've published this, and that one should be up and available to read in the next two days, so you won't have long to wait.

But I hope you enjoyed this chapter (terribly short as it was) and please stick around to read the next! Thank you all so much for reading and all of you who have reviewed really make my day! Love you all. ~Taelr