A/N: Sorry this took me over a month or two to get to. School is getting really hectic and soccer season just finished, so things are finally calming down. Anyways, R&R. If you don't like then don't bother reviewing. If you have some constructive criticism then that would be great.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Work of fiction.

Next morning…

You could say Hermione's tears stopped but the hurt she felt deep in her heart was still evident. She went about her day like any person silently grieving.

She spoke little, and ate even less.

Furthermore, she hadn't been the one to tell the Weasley's about her son and her best friend.

That blasted old man. For once in her life, Dumbledore annoyed her. She was supposed to be the one to tell them how sorry she was, not Dumbledore. Ron was her friend, not the old man.

Hermione was miserable for the whole of the day, slumping through all the classes and barely going through her old tendencies of raising her hand eagerly.

Ron is dead. Ron is dead…Dead.

Tears streamed down her eyes and she quickly rushed off to the bathroom. Catching a glance of herself in the mirror showed a tearful girl with swollen red eyes. How had things amounted to this? How was Ron dead?

"Ron! Ron! RON! PLEASE STOP JOKING! This is not funny…" She crumbled to her knees, banging on the tile floor repeatedly until her wrists began to hurt her. She curled into a little ball until her eyes slowly drifted close.

Strangely it was a black figure that accompanied her as she swirled into unconscious sleep.

3 hours later…

Hermione woke up with a start, looking around absently, trying to place where she was. She wasn't in her dorm, she knew that much. Stalls, mirrors, sinks. She shot up on her knees soon after standing on her two feet.

"Oh bugger! Class. How long…no." She shot out of the bathroom, her speech coming out jumbled and incoherent. Her bushy curls were a lot more frizzy and wild, making her appearance come off as if she'd just went through 5 exams in one day. Nobody would find her appearance unusual, not with her best friend being dead anyways.

News flew fast in this place. It was the one thing she hated the most at the moment.

She passed by people and places, blindly making her way to the nearest clock. 5:30 in the evening it read. Her classes had long since been finished, but just an hour ago she was suppose to be taking her private potion lessons.

"I can't…" she began. The thing is she didn't know what thing she couldn't do. She was speaking, just to speak; wasting time, just too waste time.

She whirled around then, bumping face first into the man she'd been prepared to see.

"I uh..I..I…Professor." she said lowering her head. She made no move to say sorry for she knew how Snape took apologies; he didn't take them at all.

He looked down at her with those same stony eyes. He didn't say anything for a while before nodding his head. "You will come with me for your lessons." He mumbled.

He turned on his heels and in that same swift silent manner he always seemed to walk, he headed in the direction of the dungeon and Hermione followed close behind, her head still lowered and her books hugged to her chest.

In the potion classroom…

Hermione looked around, her eyes emotionless. She was past that stage. She needn't show emotion; not in front of her Professor anyways. He'd tell her to wipe the tears because there was no use in crying. He'd tell her the truth and she wouldn't accept it. She just couldn't deal with that…not right now.

She sat at the front desk, dropping her things as soon as her butt hit the chair.

The sudden clatter caused Snape to turn and face the discontent girl and just as the words were going to pass his lips, he stopped himself. The look on her face was so much like his own.

"What would you like to learn, Miss Granger?"

"I don't know…I assumed you'd have a lesson planned."

"Miss Granger I realize you've lost someone important in your life but -"

"No, Professor, you don't realize and I'm very sorry for taking this tone but…How would you feel if you lost a friend Professor? I suppose you don't understand…" she said as an afterthought. She thought she was in the clear with him. She thought she could say anything she wanted around him without having to deal with the consequences, but within seconds of her speaking those words, a set of hands slammed down on her desk and lunged toward her wrist.

Her reflexes were to slow to keep up with his movement, so when she felt his hands tightly coiled around her wrist; she looked down trying to understand what was going on before looking up at his face.

"What..-"

"Miss Granger, I know how it feels to lose a friend. Trust me…I know and the worst thing was…I never got to say goodbye. In the end, it was I who killed her because I was young and stupid and I thought Voldemort was the only one who could save me. Do not tell me I don't understand how it feels to lose a friend because at least you have the satisfaction of knowing you had a great relationship with your friend. I did not." As he spoke, his grip tightened until he could feel his eyes watering.

He turned from her then; rubbing vainly at his eye to rid the water that he was sure would spill over. Lily…he remembered; his best friend, his only friend.

"Maybe you should go, Miss Granger." He said, clearing his throat. He heard her books ruffling around, and retreated to his desk, still not turning to face her.

When he felt a set of arms circling around his waist he looked momentarily startled and then shocked. The nerve of the girl…but he felt his body welcoming it. Even though he knew this was wrong, knew that any such physical connection would ruin him, he could do nothing but welcome it. She understood like he did that losing a friend was hard. Still, in his mind this was wrong. So very wrong.

"Miss Granger, please…" He'd pleaded a lot in the past and he didn't think the likes of a girl would cause him to do that again.

"Professor...I'm sorry. I'm hugging you because I'm sorry."

"You...you can't touch me. I am a teacher and you are the student! Get off, Miss Granger."

But Hermione would not yield. She stayed there, shifting her body so her front was pressed tightly into his back. She had no clue what she was doing, nor did she think she was doing anything wrong. It was only a hug.

Snape began prying at her hands until he got one hand free. When he went to her next hand, she simply replaced the hand he'd managed to unclasp from his waist.

"Miss Granger, we can not!"

"Can not what Professor? Why can we not hug? We are two people who have been through the worst of situations. Why can't you be human for a minute and accept the compassion of another?"

"Because...you are a student. You are treading dangerous waters."

"It is you who is making a big deal out of nothing."

"You call this nothing! Your body..." He trailed off, uncomfortable with what he was about to describe, but the silence was presently broken when Hermione filled it in for him.

"Is pressed up against mine. Is that it?"

"For blood sakes woman, get off me." He said. In a fit of rage, he whipped his body away from hers causing his arm to swing freely into her, hitting her square in her midsection. She fell with a surprised uff before tumbling to the stone floor.

Snape quickly bent over. And his only reason for doing so was so he wouldn't get in trouble. If anything, he would have stood towering over her and waited for her to calm down, but students were still bustling around the dungeons and he couldn't deal with explaining the sight before him.

He dragged her to her feet, his eyes once again a black expanse of nothingness. Strangely they drew her in.

"Miss Granger, I am quite sure you can walk." He said, leading her to a chair. As he was letting her go, she clasped both hands on either side of him and her legs swung on either sides of him. He felt as if he was carrying twice his weight. "Miss Granger! This is unlike you! What has gotten into you and furthermore you need to be on your way! I will not deal with this nonsense today, or any other day. Not from you." He said harshly. He gave her the dirtiest of looks, but that only caused her to grasp him tighter, and tighter. A tingle went through his body at the contact and he just didn't know what to do...

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On the staircase...

"Won't she suspect somethings up? Hermione's smart. She'll know what we're trying to do."

"Harry, my boy, this has to be done. You understand that, don't you?"

"Yes..." Harry said gravely.

The plan itself was gruesome enough. He didn't understand why Hermione had to take part in it with no knowledge with what was about to happen to her.

He didn't need to risk the lose of another friend, but it was to protect her...this was the only way. He looked up at the old wise man in front of him and nodded his head.

"Who...who's going to do it?"

"Snape will. He will understand that it is important to be rid of her. To save you. To save Hogwarts."

"But why? Why Hermione..?"

Dumbledore contemplated for a while, before he launched into his explanation. All while they both continued down the steps. Their destination? Unknown.

"Because Voldemort will target her in order to get to you. This is the only way Harry. My advice would be to spend as much time with her as possible. The war is approaching and she is our last hope. She is better dead than alive."

A single tear slipped from the corner of Harry's eyes but all he could do was nod his head. This was for Hogwarts he had to remind himself. For Hogwarts.

In the back of Dumbledore's mind, he felt that he was doing the boy a disservice by not telling Harry the whole story. He'd see in the future that he was only trying to spare him the anguish. He'd see that this would save them all, even if it meant blood shed.

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A/N: Here it is. I spoke a bit in code with the last part, and you'll understand why in the next chapter. In the next chapter I'll tell you Dumbledore and Harry's plan in detail. It'll be a flashback since it happened the day before that they were planning Hermione's death. Oh, and vote in the poll in my profile so I know what to do surrounding the issue with Hermione and Snape that's going on in the potions room! Kay, thank you and R&R.