Okay I have had to add some different stuff to the story because I got to thinking about it and the guide I had made for myself was a little shaky so I decided to stabilize it a bit. I hope that you like it and I have enjoyed the reviews. I would also like to make it clear that Snape is in love with Hermione and no matter how cold a person once was or still is love can make them do things that are out of character and do things that are completely irrational. That is my reasoning for the ending scene from last chapter just to clear that up for everyone who's scratching their heads about it. I've gotten my grove back because Kitty has decided to focus for once in her life. I hope you all enjoy it and thanks for the reviews but we still have a ways to go so keep it up.

Chapter 8: Snape's Pensieve

Hermione felt someone shaking her and immediately sat up eyes wide and wand up ready to attack should the moment call for it. But when she spotted Snape she lowered her wand and blinked. His lip was swollen and bloody but she didn't have time to study him to long because he turned away and reached for her night robe hanging at the end of the bed.

"Here put this on." He said simply throwing it at her before he pulled his robes over his head and threw them to the ground along with his mask. Hermione stared at him as she got up pulling her night robe on and tying it tightly around her waist. Snape reached for his teaching robes and threw them on before turning back to Hermione.

"Care to tell me what's going on." She asked walking toward him as he pulled buttons through button holes. He was shaking so she reached over and did it for him. He gazed down at her as if for a moment he couldn't remember who she was then he shook his head and stepped back as she finished with the buttons.

"You are a very clever witch and I need your help." Hermione looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. Severus Snape didn't ask for help, not from the woman he loved, not from anyone especially an underage witch.

"What are you talking about?" She asked as he turned around and started toward a door that in all her months of living in the dungeons with him she'd never noticed. But looking up she saw the tapestry that had once hung on that particular portion of the wall and shook her head. Of course she hadn't noticed it he'd covered it up and thought it unimportant to tell her.

She followed him inside, the room was no bigger than a broom closet and both of them barely fit inside without being scrunched together tightly. She looked over her shoulder as the door shut and locked itself behind them. Hermione felt a little bit of fear rise in her but pushed it down as she looked up at the man she loved standing beside her then she noticed the light.

Looking down she saw one of the biggest Pensieve's she'd ever seen before in her life. It took up much of the space in the room and put off just enough light that she could see most of what occupied the rest. A chair and stacks of papers lay around on the floor but she didn't have time to really look at them as she was dragged closer to the Pensieve. Snape took out his wand and muttered a few charms, most of which even Hermione couldn't recognize before he placed the tip of his wand to his temple as extracted and began to extract the memories one at a time.

She watched as they swirled around in the grayish pool of liquid that was already present in the bowl before sinking down to join the rest of them. As he pulled the memories out, she watched the clips that they showed before sinking. Most of them were of the two of them, the most recent of them making love before he'd left. The last one was of the Dark Lord hitting Snape hard across the face in an empty room. He stopped and pointed to the memory.

"That's the one." He said and took her hand in his but she pulled him back before he could lean of the bowl and get them sucked in.

"What's going on?" She said sternly and watched as he seemed torn between how much was safe to tell her and what she would have to find out on her own.

"The Dark Lord gave me information tonight and I can not speak of it to anyone but you can." He said looking back at the Pensieve and the memories that were floating to the top. She looked at them as well.

"You want me to retrieve information from your memories and then what? Tell it to Dumbledore. Do you have any idea how dangerous this is going to be? Not that I care about the danger to myself or anything but what about you. If Voldemort, (Snape flinched at the use of the Dark Lords name but she didn't really notice) finds out you sent me into your memories intentionally to extract the information then he'll kill us both." Snape thought about it but shook his head. There was no other way, she had to do it. Sure he could get Dumbledore or someone else to get it, maybe even send Potter in but his memories were private matters and he only trusted her with them.

"It's a chance we are going to have to take love. We have to be prepared for what he's planning. I can't not tell Dumbledore about this so I am trust you with it." He looked down at her. "I thought you wanted me to trust you with these kinds of things." She looked defeated for a moment and dunked her head.

"I do." She whispered and then shook her head. "I'm sorry, I just…I don't want to lose you so soon. I'm only just starting love you openly, I don't want to lose that." Snape looked down at her and sighed wrapping his arms around her and burying his head in her hair. The strands tickled his nose as he breathed in her scent, the scent of their love making still clung to her. They hugged each other for a full five minutes before Hermione pulled away, a look of determination upon her face.

"Okay, let's do this." She said reaching over to take his hand in hers. She watched as Snape sifted through the memories to find the one that he was looking for. He seen it float to the top and together they bent forward and Hermione held her breath as they were sucked down into the memory.

She was transported into the large 'thrown' room of the Dark Lord and looked around at all the Death Eaters who were unmasked and standing before their Lord. She saw Snape Apparated into the room and took a spot near the back of the room.

'Good idea.' She thought and quickly heard Snape replay.

'Thank you.' She turned to look at him but he pressed his finger over his lips to shh her and then pointed toward the front of the room again.

She watched the Dark Lord descending from his thrown saying something but nothing that sounded very important. She caught something about a New World and not only taking over the Wizarding World but the Muggle World as well. She looked at the Snape beside her as the Snake stopped in front of him.

'…In a fortnight we will attack Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, we will kill Albus Dumbledore and I will kill Harry Potter and his two best-friends.' She turned her attention back to him as he looked Snape over waiting for a reaction but not getting one. 'However, if someone here would like to speak up for one of those friends, I would consider letting him or her have them.' She felt fear clinch her afraid that someone would speak up but no one did. But a Death Eater she didn't know did speak up and comment.

'Why would any of us speak for one of those good for nothing kids my Lord?' The Dark Lord smiled, if you wanted to call the sick twist of his lips a smile, and then turned and walked back toward his throne.

'Because one of those among you is married to one of them.' He glanced over his shoulder at Snape who was now staring at the front of the room.

The Dark Lord had started to say something else but Snape pulled her back.

Hermione found herself once again in the Pensieve room and staring at the man beside her.

"He's going to attack Hogwarts in a fortnight." Snape looked at her for a moment before responding.

"You heard it for yourself. Now you must go to Dumbledore and tell him, it has to be tonight. You have to warn him about the attack." Hermione nodded and turned on her heels starting for the door and stopping when she realized that Snape wasn't following her.

"Aren't you coming with me?" She asked looking at him as he stared down into the Pensieve. In the faint glow he looked older, as if the weight of the world was resting on his shoulders. He shook his head but didn't look up at her.

"This is something you have to do by yourself Hermione. I can't be there or else the Dark Lord will know something is up. I can only protect you and myself so far and then he's just too strong for me to fight off." She watched him as he brought his wand back up to his temple and extracted yet another memory. "I'm not a weak man. I'm just trying to keep us both as safe as possible." She looked at him for a few minutes before turning and starting for the door again but what he said stopped her in her process yet again.

"I love you so much Hermione." She turned and looked at him again. This time he was watching her. His dark eyes shinning with the love he felt for her and she smiled softly at him and ran back over to him throwing her arms around him.

"I love you too." She pressed a kiss to his lips quickly before starting for the door again. But she once again stopped before she reached the bedroom door and turned to look at him. He was just visible inside the room. "You're not a weak man. You'll never be a weak man in my eyes, no matter what you do." With that she turned and started in a full out sprit toward Professor Dumbledore's office with the information that she had.

TBC

Okay, either chapter and I'm still loving writing on this story. It's taking me a little longer to update because I'm trying to write on some of my other stories as well. I only have about a month before I start college and I'm not going to have much time after that but I will continue to update as quickly and regularly as possible. So the age old question now becomes: Do you want more or what? Let me know by reviewing.