Dear Readers,
I'd like to think you all again for your reviews and another big thanks to Miss Jessica Riddle, who has given me yet another great review. I love ya, all of ya. I would also like to tell you that I have started on a Hannah Montana/Harry Potter crossover and that if you think it might be your thing then check it out. I get the idea for it when I started reading another called 'Hannah Heads to Hogwarts,' it's a really funny story and mines not its actually kind of just going through the process of the group finding out they are witches and wizards. I hope that you'll check it out its call 'Miley, Lilly, Oliver and Jackson Are What?' and it can be found in the Hannah Montana section under the category of Romance rated M. Once again thinks for the review and I hope that you will continue to make me a very happy girl with your reviews.
X's & O's,
KC
Chapter 10: A Dark Deed Indeed
As Hermione made her way back down to her and Severus' shared rooms she couldn't help but get the feeling she was being followed. At every corner she'd turn and look over her shoulder but she never saw anyone or anything. As she was walking down the grand staircase and passing the great oak front doors she felt something reach out and grab her from behind.
Hermione thrashed and tried to scream but something immediately clasped over her mouth and she felt as if her body was being encircled by invisible rope. She could feel it as it chafed her skin and almost tore her skin. She winched in pain when the ropes went around her ribs to tie her arms to her sides and squeezed her hard. Suddenly, without any kind of warning at all, everything went black. The last thing she remembered was hearing muttering coming from the direction of the front doors.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Snape was pacing his rooms and wondering where Hermione had gotten off to when there was a knock on the door to his private rooms. He glanced up at the clock Hermione had placed on the wall in the sitting room and frowned. It was way past time for any of the students to be up and about and Hermione would not have knock and there was no real reason for Dumbledore to come down here. He knew that they couldn't discuss what Hermione had told him. The knock came again this time louder.
He walked toward the door and had his hand on the knob when it flew open. He felt his feet lift off the floor and was thrown back against the far wall. He groaned and winched as he tried to stand up. But immediately two hands pushed him back and a voice, obviously male, told him to lay still.
"Where's Hermione?" Another voice, different from the first asked and Snape could feel the hands lift off of his shoulders. He opened his eyes and saw none other than Harry Potter and Ron Weasley standing in his private rooms. Instantly Snape was furious but then he remembered that they were Hermione's friends and that she might have invited them to be here. But why in the hell had they blasted open his door.
"What is the meaning of this?" He snarled struggling to stand up. Potter stepped back and nudged Weasley in the shoulder. The red haired boy looked extremely pale and his eyes that were usually bright with life were dim. Potter looked even worst than the other. It looked as if he had just seen something that sickened him greatly and his emerald green eyes were darker. Both boys looked as if they were about to burst into tears.
"We found this in the entrance hall?" The Weasley boy held something out. It was small enough to lie in the palm of his hand. Stepping forward Snape looked at it and immediately felt as if he himself were going to be sick. Inside the pale skinned hand of the boy lay his wife's wedding ring. He stared at it for a few moments before staggering backwards and into the wall which he lend against and slid down the floor.
"When did you find it?" He asked his hands shaking as he raised them to run them over his face. He wished like hell this was all a bad dream. He wished that he could just wake up and find Hermione sleeping safely beside him with her arm over her eyes as she snored lightly in her sleep. But he knew that this was real, he felt it in his heart. Hermione was gone and she'd left her wedding ring.
"Just now." Weasley said and this time he nudged Potter as well.
"This was under it." He held out a piece of parchment with some words on it. Snape took it and unfolded the paper. He read the words then re-read them to make sure he'd read them right the first time.
We have her, was all it said. There was no signature or identifying mark. Just three simple words on a plain piece of paper but where they had come from couldn't have been clearer.
"The Dark Lord." He whispered to himself and jumped up off the floor and turned to stalk out the door. Weasley and Potter following closely behind him. He turned up the grand staircase and made his way toward Dumbledore's office. It hadn't been long since he had sent Hermione up to the Headmaster so he wasn't asleep. He reached the gargoyle and said the password. Hoping onto the movie staircase he turned to find Weasley and Potter still following. Weasley still held Hermione's wedding ring in his hand.
"I'd like my wife's wedding ring back." Snape reached out a hand and the boy put it in his palm without saying anything. The two boys knew how Hermione felt about her husband. Even if it slightly broke their hearts to hear it. Neither of them had wanted Hermione to marry Snape. They'd wanted her to wait for someone else to offer but as the deadline for marriage drew near and Snape didn't receive any offers and Dumbledore had already asked her to make this sacrifice for the Order so she had stepped up and done what she thought was her duty. Neither of them had ever expected anything to come from the marriage, especially not for Snape to fall in love with Hermione or for her to fall in love with him. At first they both thought it had been a mistake between great sex and love but over time they'd noticed that it had became so much more than that for her and for Snape. Now the best they could do was hope that everything worked out.
When the stairs stopped outside of Dumbledore's doors they all stepped off and waited as Snape knocked. The boys prepared themselves to face Dumbledore and explain to him why they were out at such a late hour when Professor McGonagall came to the door.
"Severus, what's the…" She trailed off when she noticed Harry and Ron. The two boys stared up at her as Dumbledore came to stand behind her with his hands on her shoulder.
"It would appear we have more late night visitors." Dumbledore said noticing Harry and Ron but he didn't give his usual smile. In fact he looked like he had quite a bit on his mind.
"I'm sorry to disturb you again tonight but it would seem Hermione has been taken by the Dark Lord." Snape held out the note and watched as McGonagall read it before handing it to Dumbledore. She ushered them inside and into chairs before taking the seat behind the Headmasters desk which Dumbledore let her keep. He sat down on the corner of his desk closest to Snape who was twirling Hermione's wedding ring around and around on his finger.
"Are you sure it's Voldemort?" Ron and McGonagall both winched at the name while Harry and Snape seemed utterly unfazed by it. The two were not afraid of the name as the others were. Thought Harry thought he saw Snape's jaw tense for a moment after the older man had spoken the name. He simply nodded but didn't elaborate or say anything to anyone in the room. Harry looked at him and could almost see the gears turning in his head, trying to work through what was going on. He knew something and Harry wanted to know what it was.
Dumbledore sat the letter down on his desk and sighed as he reached up and took his glasses off. He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a moment before returning his glasses to their former position and looking at the two boys.
"And how are you two involved?" He asked looking from Harry to Ron and back again. Ron opened his mouth to say something but nothing would come out so it was left up to Harry to tell the tale.
"We were sneaking down to see Hermione. We hadn't heard from her in a few days and she won't talk to us in class because she's had to miss so much and been so focused on catching up. We just wanted to see how things were going with her and to tell her…" He trailed off and looked at Ron who looked back at him and shook his head.
Don't tell them. His gaze pleaded but Harry knew that he'd already let the cat out of the bag and would have to tell them anyway.
"What is it Harry? What did you want to tell her?" McGonagall pressed as she looked over at them from behind the desk. Harry looked up and caught her gaze, silently wondering what the hell she was doing in Dumbledore's private rooms so late at night but that was for another time he guessed. He sighed and threw an apologetic look at Ron.
"Well, we were going to tell her that we had…that we knew that Voldemort was hatching another one of his plans like he'd done in our fifth year. I started having the dreams again and we thought that if we told Hermione she could tell Professor Snape and he might help us with finding out what it was before we came to you." McGonagall gave a gasp and covered her mouth as she looked over at Dumbledore who was starting to look more worried by the minute. Snape rose and wheeled around standing in front of them, nostrils flared and eyes wild.
"You knew something was going to happen and you didn't get to her sooner." He watched as Harry nodded and squared his shoulders preparing himself to take whatever Snape dished out. But Snape did not ever so much as raise his voice. He immediately wheeled back around and stalked toward the door but as he pulled on the handle her found that it was locked.
"You're not going anywhere Severus." Minerva told him as she lowered her wand and looked on at the man who was standing in front of the door. His eyes were wild and he looked as if he might at any moment start flinging hexes and curses at the others in the room. He started toward Minerva but quickly turned and headed for one of the long windows in Dumbledore's office. He looked out it at the rising sun and felt as if he might attempt to fling himself out it any moment. Snape brought his hand up and rubbed his face. He felt so helpless and hopeless and no one seemed to be doing anything.
He turned and looked at Dumbledore who was sitting behind his desk now with Minerva standing behind him. Ron and Harry both sat slouched in the two chairs in front of her headmaster's desk. He looked at the two boys and felt like killing them both. Maybe if they had gotten to the dungeons sooner Hermione wouldn't have been taken? Maybe if…
Maybe if you would have went with her she'd still be here you dunderhead. Argued that annoying part of his brain that was most of the time right. He brought a hand up and ran it through his hair. He knew he couldn't have gone with her. He had to stay away from this office while she was telling Dumbledore about the Dark Lord's plan. But that didn't mean he was guiltless. Just like all those years ago, if he'd played it smart and not let his heart get involved in matters that it had no right in to begin with he would not be finding himself in his current predicament.
Even as Snape thought this he knew it was a lie. There was no way he could have stayed with Hermione this long and not have fallen in love with her. Sometimes he would look at her or catch a glimpse of her in the hallway talking to one or a group of her peers and realize just how much younger and innocent she was that him. He would get himself worked up about their differences in age and in personality. Then when she'd come in from a long day of classes and ask him how his day had gone because hers had been hell, he couldn't find it in himself to care. She was on a maturity level that most young people her age would probably never experience.
Turning now away from the other four occupants of the room whom were now discussing the dream that Harry had had and why he hadn't came to Dumbledore first thing it occurred to him. Hermione had been taken in the entrance hall of Hogwarts. She had been inside the castle walls, which meant that the Dark Lord had someone on the inside.
"Headmaster, it has only just occurred to me, and I'm quite sure we have all over looked this slight detail, but Hermione's wedding ring was found in the entrance hall inside of Hogwarts, which only leaves me with one conclusion. Someone let the kidnappers into the castle and it was a crime of opportunity or the Dark Lord is not as ignorant of my loyalties as I would like him to be." Dumbledore had been in the middle of a sentence when Snape spoke and abruptly stopped.
"I can't believe this." He said barely audible and stood up almost knocking Minerva over in the process as she had lend closer to hear what he'd said. The room watched as he stepped down and began to pace back and forth between one bookcase clad wall to the other. The Phoenix who was sitting dutifully on its perch asleep raised its head and looked at Dumbledore for a moment before moving its head as if to shake it before he noticed Harry was in the room and spread his great graceful wings and flew over to perch on the arm of Harry's chair. Harry raised his hand and petted on Fawkes while he and the other people in the room watched Dumbledore pace, occasionally muttering incoherently to himself.
It did seem like quite a stretch that it was crime of opportunity. The Dark Lord had suspected Snape of being disloyal to him since his marriage to Hermione no matter what he'd done to try and convince the man otherwise. Harry felt a small amount of guilt that he had not gone to the headmaster with the dream. He had just wanted to do his part in the war and to find a way to get information on his own. Harry didn't like having to run everything past the adults. They rarely took him seriously anymore, what with all the fake images and things that he'd been getting from Voldemort lately. Until a few nights ago when he'd been asleep and he'd dreamed of the death of a young woman who's body was found only days later. It was just as he'd seen it.
But still he had thought it was only a fluke and hadn't said anything to anyone except for Ron. Then the dreams had started to come every night and were all true images of what was happening. Tonight when he'd been transported to that weird place he often found himself in he had seen and heard the Death Eaters, been inside the man who was telling them what to do. But most of it had been a blur and before he'd known what was happening he'd woken up and immediately went to wake Ron. He'd felt dread as they'd made their way down to the dungeon rooms under Harry's invisibility cloak. He had almost stepped on the small golden wedding band that had been laid on the floor, obviously to hold the note in place. If it hadn't been for Ron he would have trodden right over top of it.
"Surely no one inside this castle would let Death Eaters in." Ron said as he looked back and forth between the three adults in the room. Ron hated being brought to the headmaster's office and he hated it more that McGonagall and Snape were here in the locked room with them. Ron was terribly afraid of all authority figures. Harry had often teased him that as they'd brought Hermione out of her state of expulsion being worst than death that Ron had slipped into it. Even though Ron feared death more than expulsion he still had a very great fear of the professors and others whom had the power to punish him for his wrongs. But Harry had assured him that even he sometimes feared these people.
"Well, it would only be a matter of finding a poor unsuspecting victim and placing them under Imperius Curse and waiting for the right moment." Snape stopped and took a deep breath before he continued on. "I believe that this was the Dark Lord's plan all along. I'm beginning to believe that he gave us false information at the meeting tonight to test my loyalties. He knew that if I was one of his followers I would say nothing as he most certainly would have known about it. But if I was unfaithful I'd find a way around it such as sending Hermione into my memories to extract the information." He watched as all eyes turned and focused on him. Even though he was used to having people attention focused on him, he was a teacher, this time it made him nerves. Dumbledore had even stopped in his pacing to listen. "I should have known better than to think he would speak of such an important plan around me. He has suspected for some time that I am not as faithful as I once was. I believe he has take Hermione to draw us out into the open and to make us move first so that he can strike. He wants us to be vulnerable and unprepared for him. I believe that he has hatched a plan that is most sinister." At the end of his monologue Dumbledore began to nod and turned on his heels to start pacing again.
"I think you might be right." As he paced he stroked his beard, his concentration almost completely on the problem at hand. Harry could almost see the gears in his head working. "And if that's the case it was a very well laid plan. But as they say even the best laid plans have their flaws." He stopped pacing and moved back toward his desk where he shooed Minerva out of his chair and sat down. She quickly pulled out her wand and conjured two more chairs on either side of Dumbledore's desk but Snape did not sit down. Instead he moved to stand just to the right of Harry who had ceased in stroking Fawkes and was looking from McGonagall to Dumbledore with a questioning expression on his face.
"There is no time to dive into personal matters between myself and Minerva Harry." Dumbledore said without even looking at him as he sat staring at Snape who was shifting his weight from foot to foot under the intensity of the headmaster's gaze. "Do you think he will try and make contact with you?" No sooner had the words left Dumbledore's mouth than Snape felt the Dark Mark on his arm start to burn and move. He reached over and pulled back the left arm of his robes to show the others.
"Does that answer your question headmaster?" Dumbledore shot Snape a look that neither Harry nor Ron had ever seen on the man's face. He looked almost hateful and ready to say something completely unpleasant. But that was not Dumbledore's way.
"I think we should go with you." Snape opened his mouth to protest but he held up his hand and continued on. "I will send word to the Order to meet us outside of the gates in five minutes, which I'm sure is enough time for you to get your things and then we will all Apparate to the destination with you. Though I'm not too fond of side-long Appareation that is what we are going to have to do I'm afraid."
"And what if he calls me into the room in which he is?" Snape shot back this time sounding more hateful than really necessary with Dumbledore. The other three in the room sat forgotten and glad for it. None of them wanted to be drug into the middle of this. Dumbledore looked at Snape over the top of his half-moon spectacles and raised an eyebrow. Never before had he heard the man in front of him take this tone with anyone except for his father when he'd appeared at Hogwarts back when he'd been a student. But Dumbledore ignored this and answered him.
"We have to go in ready to fight and ready for anything." Snape threw his hands up in the air and winched in pain as the Dark Mark gave another stir and sent hot sharp pain up his arm and into his chest.
"I don't suppose there's any talking you out of this." He asked and watched as the older man nodded his head. Snape ran a hand over his face before tangling it in his hair and giving a quick little yank that took several hairs with it. He gritted his teeth and blew out a breath.
"Fine, but if everyone is not there in five minutes I leave without them." He said and with that turned to the door. He stepped onto the staircase as it began to come down and felt the presence of the others behind him. As he stepped out into the deserted corridor he noticed the first lights of day seeping through the window. It was odd that the Dark Lord would call them in the daylight. Which meant that he was not ignorant of Snape's lies and deceit. He felt the twist in his gut as he stepped through the place where his door had once stood. He went straight for his robes and pulled them on quickly.
As he reached for his mask he looked at the bed, which was still unmade, and felt tears sting his eyes. If she were here she'd be sitting there on the verge of tears waiting on him to come to her so she could put his mask on and tell him goodbye. Every time he left the very real feeling that it could be the last time broke both their hearts. And now it was his heart that was breaking as she wasn't even there to try and pick up the pieces and it was entirely his fault. If he was more of a man and less a coward they would not be in this situation.
As he pulled on the mask he started for the door and noticed something gold lying on the floor beside the coffee table that held Hermione's books. It appeared old and dusty but as Snape got closer to it the object started to look vaguely familiar. He picked it up and turned it over in his hand. It was light but still some weight to it and it was circular. He looked down at the book that lay open on the table above it and saw an illustration of the thing inside. The only difference between the one in his hands and the one in the book was the writing. They were in ruins but both said two different things. The illustration said: The blood will set us free, while the one in his hand said: Necessary love will destroy unnecessary evil.
Looking back and forth between them he tried to make sense of the crazy sayings. Above the illustration was a heading. It read: Teddy Fleming's Circle of Power. Then it hit him. This was the circle pendant to a necklace that Hermione had found among some old things at Grimmauld Place a few years ago before they'd been married. She'd been up in the attic with him and Lupin looking for something when she'd found it and recognized it immediately.
'…According to what I've read this pendent, when engraved properly, has more magical power than anyone has ever seen. It's kind of like the ultimate weapon against evil. But it's very tricky and very hard to do. If one thing is off about the spell, it's disastrous…' Snape was sure she's said more but he hadn't been listening. He knew however that in her spear time, what little she'd had, Hermione had been working on the spell and enchantments for the Circle of Power. He looked at the golden pendant in his hand before closing his fist around it.
"Hermione, my love, it's time to see just how great of a witch you are." He pockets the pendant and raced off out the hole in the wall and toward the oak front door. He had just pushed them open and stepped out when a flash of green light whizzed by his head and missed him by merely inches. He wheeled around fast and looked out.
All over the grounds Death Eaters were battling with Order Members and some of the students from Hogwarts. Many of the students Snape recognized as Gryffindor's and other's who had been suspected of forming a group in their fifth year called the D.A. or Dumbledore's Army. He watched as Neville Longbottom faced off with Bellatrix Lestrange whose hood had fallen back to reveal her face. The boy delivered a prefect Stunning Spell just before he had to dunk to avoid being hit with a misaimed Killing Curse. He rose up and looked down at the woman who had tortured his parents into madness and muttered words that Snape could not hear. Only seconds later the same green light that Snape and Neville had both just avoided shot from the tip of his wand and hit Bellatrix right in the chest. Her eyes went wide and her mouth opened just before it hit but no sound ever emitted from her mouth that Snape heard and she failed to move afterward. Neville stood over her dead body breathing heavily until he saw Luna Lovegood fighting with another Death Eater and took off to help her.
Curses and spells flew through the air at an alarming rate. Snape watched as one Death Eater, whom he knew to be Lucius Malfoy, aimed a curse at Harry Potter. Snape quickly drew his own wand and without uttering a word sent a Freezing Spell at him. Lucius froze in place, his eyes on Harry, his mouth opened, and his wand high in the air.
Harry looked up and noticed Snape coming toward him pulling off his mask as he walked. He watched as the Potions Master through the mask down on the grown and set it on fire with a flick of his wand. Harry felt for the first time that he liked Snape as a person.
"Potter!" He yelled as he neared where Harry was standing in front of Lucius. Harry pivoted just in time to dodge a stream of bright blue light that had been aimed somewhere else but knocked out of its path. He threw a Stunning Spell in the same general direction and watched as it hit one of the clocked figures and they feel to the ground.
"Potter!" Snape yelled again and motioned him to walk toward him. Harry met him halfway both flinging spells, hexes, curses and anything else they could think of over their shoulder and over the shoulders of the other person. Snape reached inside his Death Eater robes and pulled out the golden pendant that he'd found in the sitting room and passed it to Harry. "I think this is the answer to our problem." He watched as Harry stared down at the ruin markings on the front. "They translate as Necessary love will destroy unnecessary evil. The pendant is called a Teddy Fleming's Circle of Power. Its ancient magic that is very powerful. I've read some about them and Hermione has been working on getting the enchantment right. I don't know if she succeeded or not so this is a stretch but anything's worth a shot at this point, don't you agree?" He saw Harry nod. "Good. Now listen to me very carefully," he thought back to the text that he himself had read about it only a few weeks ago. That's where he'd noticed it from really. He'd merely glanced at it in Grimmauld Place but Hermione had left her book open and he'd been curious about what she was reading. "The pendant has hopefully, been charmed to recognized great evil. What you must do is get close enough that you can put the pendant directly over the Dark Lord's heart. It has to make contact with his skin. The pendants magic will activate and the pendant will disappear inside him and destroy his soul, no matter what he's done to it. Even if he has split it into pieces as some believe him to have. It will destroy it and raid us of the Dark Lord forever." Snape reached out and gripped Harry's shoulder pulling him down as another flash of light, this one neither was quite sure of, flew toward them. Both flanged different curses in the general direction but neither watched to see what or if they hit anything or anyone. But his hand stayed on the boys shoulder as they rose back up. He took a deep breath before continuing. "Be careful and don't get yourself killed." With that he turned and aimed another spell at a Death Eater who was moving toward him and Harry.
TBC
I know another cliffhanger, ya'll must hate me so much. I hope you've little introduction to the end. There will be more soon. I'm so sorry that its taken so long but I had a wedding to attend a few days ago and am only just getting back and I've been reading on the 7th HP book which is by far the best one. I know what happens at the end thanks to one of my big mouthed friends but the stuff that leads up to it is just great and JK has written it so well. Let me know what you think and if you can check out my HP and HM crossover: 'Miley, Lilly, Oliver and Jackson Are What?' Thanks for the support. I have 115 reviews right now so lets get me some more please.