CHAPTER TEN
His dark orbs burnt with anger as he paced the small room, trying to control his fury. His heavy footfalls echoed through the room, assaulting Hermione's already ringing ears.
Slowly and carefully, Hermione pushed herself off the ground, using the wall for support, and stood warily on shaking legs. Her trembling hands moved to her face and brushed the mass of hair out of her eyes.
The dark figure continued pacing the room, occasionally clenching his fists so hard, his knuckles turned white.
Hermione flinched slightly as Severus turned suddenly and took two furious steps towards her.
"What in Merlins name do you think you were doing?"He yelled.
Her heart pounded loudly in her chest, then nearly stopped, then pounded again, even louder.
The temporary relief she felt at the sight of a familiar face, had now faded away, and was replaced with a feeling of dread. He continued to look at her, waiting for an answer.
"I don't know." She stammered.
"You don't know?" He hissed.
Hermione sunk back into the corner of the unfamiliar room and cast her eyes down to the rotting wooden floor.
"I wasn't thinking" Her small voice squeaked.
Severus laughed bitterly, and then took another step towards her trembling body.
"Miss Know-it-all didn't know what she was thinking?"
"I'm sorry." She squeaked again before another bitter laugh escaped Severus' lips.
"Do you know what Lucius would have done to you if he had caught you?" He hissed as he took the final step, closing the gap between their bodies.
Hermione hiccupped as she held back tears.
Severus suddenly reached forward, grabbing Hermione by the shoulders, causing her to let out a small yelp.
She pressed her lips together tightly as Severus pulled her close to his face.
"I'm sorry" She whispered again.
His sickly sweet breath hit her face in a rush of hot air.
"You could have suffered a fate worse than death and all you can say is sorry."
Silent tears spilled over Hermione's cheeks as Severus' grip tightened on her shoulders.
"Do I need to remind you what Lucius did to you in Knockturn Alley?" Hermione's breath caught in her throat.
Severus' eyes widened suddenly as he realized what he had just said. He silently cursed himself for bringing it up again.
His grip loosened slightly, but his face returned back to its usual stony demeanour.
"Do I?" He hissed, shaking Hermione slightly.
"No" She forced through gritted teeth.
Just a suddenly as Severus had grabbed the girl, he let go. Hermione slid down the wall, tears staining her face
"I just needed to get out of the house."
"And you think sneaking out when a mad man is after you is the way to go?"
Hermione turned her head from the angry man as she held her breath to stop the hiccups. Severus let out a deep sigh and placed his hands on his hips.
"Honestly Miss Granger, I thought you had more sense than that."
Severus turned from the girl, and began to rubbing his temples in an attempt to sooth the ach now pounding at his head.
"Just promise me you won't do that again." He almost whispered. "I don't want to have to lock you in a room with an Auror at your door."
Hermione nodded her head slightly as she wiped away the tears from her cheeks with the sleeve of her jacket. Severus' breathing began to slow and the fire that burnt in his stomach was now subsiding. Merlin, if he ever got his hands on Lucius, that evil bastard would pay!
He turned his head to the girl, she seemed to have calmed down, but Gods did he wish she would stop crying.
"I've learnt my lesson." Her voice broke suddenly from her mouth, soft and distorted, breaking the temporary silence.
"Can we please leave? This place is giving me the creeps" Hermione shuddered involuntarily as she looked around the room.
Several large wooden bookcases lined every wall in the small room. The books that once sat on the polished shelves now lay in ruin on the floor. Hermione looked to her ex-professor, who was also regarding the mountains of trashed books.
"You know this place?" Hermione asked curiously, her eyes sparkling clearly with interest.
The man stood in silence for a moment, taking in the mess before him. He finally looked away from the books and set his gaze on Hermione.
"This is my house." Severus said. The usually sarcasm and malice had all but vanished from his voice.
"Or at least it used to be."
Hermione could have sworn she saw a hint of regret flicker across his cold hard face. She pushed her now sore body off the floor and moved to the closest pile of books. A small smile played on the edge of her mouth; she had read all these books, twice at least. She huffed in amusement; she had the same taste in books as her professor. He would not like this.
"What happened here?" She dared to ask.
"The ministry I suppose." He said suddenly, catching Hermione by surprise. She never expected him to answer her; she was preparing herself for his snide remark about her being a nosey know- it-all.
"The ministry?" She asked, urging him to continue.
"I can only deduce that once my 'death'..." Both Hermione and Severus flinched at the stressed word. "...The ministry raided my home." Severus made his way over to one of the piles of books and squatted to pick up a small leather bond book.
"I'm glad I removed all my priceless books." His voice was cool and low, not showing any emotion at all.
Hermione cast her eyes away from the man and continued to pick through the pile of books, occasionally finding one that was not totally ruined and placing it in a neat pile.
"Such an extreme waste" Severus declared. "It took my family centuries to make this collection."
"I'm sorry" Hermione offered, as she reached her hand out and placed it gently on Severus' robed arm.
His muscles immediately stiffened under her soft touch. His eyes left the book in his hands and slowly slid down to where Hermione's hand laid.
Upon seeing the shocked look on his face, Hermione pulled back her hand. Her cheeks burned crimson red as she us she hung her head in embarrassment.
A loud pop, accompanied by several crashing noises, sounded from downstairs. Severus' head jerked up suddenly and his eyes came to rest on Hermione, who was now frozen in terror.
"We must leave!" He hissed as he stood. "Lucius must have tracked us here."
Hermione stayed sitting on the floor, completely unable to will her body to move. Her face was pale white and void of emotion.
A loud growl sounded from Severus' throat as he strode towards Hermione. Did she not understand the danger Lucius was? Had she not learnt her lesson in Knockturn Alley? Did she want to die?
Severus' gritted his teeth furiously.
Oh and Merlin, what if Lucius was to find out she was pregnant?
He had to get her to safety.
His hand gripped firmly around her thin arm, then he pulled her up to her feet with no effort at all. The sudden movement shook her from her trance.
"Grab your wand, we need to leave now!" Severus let go of her arm the walked cautiously to the door. His hand sat delicately on the door as his ear joined it.
"Oh no!" Hermione cried suddenly.
Severus mentally prepared himself and turned to face the girl.
"What is it now?"
Hermione lifted her head then pulled her hand from her pocket, revealing her wand, broken cleanly in two. Severus sighed loudly and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Great, just what he needed.
"We can replace it" He urged "Come, we must leave now!"
His hand shot out, waving Hermione towards him.
"Am I to assume you are familiar with slide-along Aperation?" Hermione nodded sheepishly as she came to a stop in front of the tall man. He pulled his own wand from his robes then looked at the girl.
"Well?" He asked impatiently "We haven't much time. Hold my waist."
Hermione's face turned a delicious shade of red.
Severus sighed impatiently
"Miss Granger, Potter would skin me alive if you are splinched. You are without wand which makes Aperation all the more dangerous. So, the closer we are the more likely you will arrive at our destination with ALL your limbs."
Hermione's mouth hung open slightly as her cheeks flushed darker.
"Unless you want to stay here and find out who is sneaking through my house?"
Hermione's eyes widened suddenly before she shot a quick 'no' at the man. Severus moved forward with one hand hanging in the air, urging the girl to take her place. Hermione moved forward slowly, trying to prolong the embrace. Her arms raised and slipped around his waist before her fingers grasped together at his side.
With his wand at the ready, Severus Disaperated from the room, just as the door opened.
A/N: I don't want to bore you with all the personal details of why it took me so long to update. So I'll just say I'm sorry and promise to work harder
Hope you enjoyed that chapter, and please don't hesitate to review ;)
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Snellee