"Professor Snape?" Hermione said, surprised. "Is that really you?"

How was it possible? After three months, hoping that she would be able to talk to him, even hear his voice, and yet rewarded with nothing, how was it possible that he was there now?

"What are you doing here?"

"I would ask the same of you, Miss Granger. It is fast approaching curfew, yet I find you sitting in a corridor, lost like a first-year."

Hermione flinched at his condescending tone. He was much more hostile than their last encounter.

"I know, Professor. I'm sorry… But I can't help it! I can't help it if I'm an idiot who doesn't use her brain! And I can't help it if I can't see."

How she wanted to cry again. Why was she being so pathetic?

She felt cold fingers brush her hair from her face and then grasp hold of both her hands and lifting her to her feet. They wrapped around her left wrist gently, but firmly, and guided her forwards through the corridor.

"Why didn't you reply, sir?" Hermione asked.

She was promptly ignored. She sighed in frustration.

"Could I possibly go speak to Professor Dumbledore?" She asked.

Suddenly, he stopped.

"Why do you want to do that?"

"I want… do I have to… I have… I just want to talk to him, surely I'm allowed to do that?" Hermione said in despair.

No response, but they did not keep walking.

"Professor… did I do something wrong? I mean… did I do something that made you angry, or something?" Hermione asked, feeling her voice break under the pressure of trying not to cry. "You haven't… well, I haven't 'seen' you since that day, and…"

"Did you expect me to spend every minute of the summer holidays at your beck and call, Miss Granger?" He hissed.

"No! But… but… why are you being so cold? You are so different from the person with me during the summer! Why?"

"Lucius Malfoy is in Azkaban."

"Oh, so because he's no longer around to present a threat to me you've decided that… that you've repaid some sort of debt? Is that what you believe? That I'm just some piece of… something that you've wronged and need to fix and leave behind?" Hermione felt her temper building. "You and Felicity are the only ones who are even close to understanding what I went through, but I can't just rely on Felicity! She doesn't need reminding—"

"And you believe that I do? That I deserve being reminded because I am one of them?"

"No! Felicity isn't as strong mentally than you are! She's trying so hard to recover, I can't keep shoving her back in the past to relive it with me. I don't even know why I keep remembering and not letting go! But I can't cope with this… all the pity and fear that seem to hover around me. Do I have a sign above my head saying 'please feel sorry or terrified of me'?"

Hermione was just expecting a comeback when high pitched cackling filled the air and she felt a gust of wind breeze behind her. It blew past with such a great force that she fell forwards, losing her balance and toppling sideways. She moved her arms up to her face in an instantaneous reflex to protect her head as she waited for the impact with the ground. The collision never occurred. Instead, she landed into the arms of her professor, and regained her balance by grasping his forearms tightly.

"Peeves!" Snape growled.

The cackling resumed its original menace and in his high-pitched, irritating voice, said:

"Oooh! Lookie what we havie here! The Ugly Bat and the Gryffindor Whore in a tight embrace!"

Then, before the poltergeist departed, he threw something at the ground beside them and whizzed away just as whatever it was exploded. Hermione found her head being forced under her Potions professor's chin, supported at the back with his hand as Snape dived away, shielding her from the blast with his body.

Again Hermione felt a jolt as they landed on the ground, his body on top of hers. However, as though on a broken record, Peeves' words repeated themselves in her head. As soon as was possible, she pushed the Potions Master off her, and rolled away, crossing her arms across her chest and wrapping her hands around her neck as she gulped the dust laden air.

Whore. Whore. Whore. Whore.

"That's all I am…" Hermione choked. "His pet. That's all I ever will be, his little concubine, his f—"

"Miss Granger! Ten points from Gryffindor for the use of crude language!"

Hermione clamped her jaw shut, but it kept her quiet only for a little while.

"Professor?" Hermione said timidly.

Silence.

"Professor Snape?" Hermione called louder.

She stood up slowly, coughing in the midst of the dust and inching her way forwards. Without her cane, she felt even more exposed than ever.

"Professor Snape? Are you there?"

There was no response. Could he be unconscious? Hermione dropped to her knees and swept the ground before her with her hands. Nothing.

"Plus, he sounded healthy enough. How could he have fallen unconscious straight after? Since when does Snape fall unconscious anyway?" Hermione mused out loud.

If Snape had been there, he would have said something about disrespecting a teacher, but there was no reply. So, Hermione continued in the direction that Snape had originally been taking her in, with both hands on the wall, inching forwards little by little in almost a crab-like walk. Suddenly, she felt a change in the direction of the wall, and she followed it, turning left.

A small whisper of a sound made her spin around.

"Who is it?" She called out.

She pulled out her wand and pointed it in front of her.

"Is there anyone there?" She called out again.

Nothing. Concluding that she was suffering from paranoia, she turned and faced forwards again. Suddenly, from what she estimated to be an inch away from her nose, she heard a huge bellow:

"BOO!"

She jumped up five feet into the air in shock, stumbling backwards. However, her foot hit the floor awkwardly on the side, and she shrieked as she slipped forwards. True fear only grasped hold of her when she realised that the space in front of her, which there originally had been a solid ground, had now become devoid of anything, and she screamed as she tumbled over the edge, towards the deep dark depths at the bottom.

Hermione considered herself lucky that she had such quick reflexes. Before even her brain could grasp hold of what was happening, her right arm had shot out and grabbed the edge of the platform. There was a loud crack and she felt a dull thudding pain in her shoulder as her arm became dislocated. She swung her left arm, which was still functioning, fortunately, onto the platform, but she could not do anything save for hanging there, and to wait for help.

Peeves, the one responsible for her fall, had decided to abruptly disappear, and Hermione felt her irritation rise once more. But, as soon as it did, it dissipated, and another voice entered her mind.

"Why don't I just let go?" Hermione wondered. "I wouldn't be a bloody nuisance anymore, and I wouldn't have to suffer anymore… I could just rest in peace. I've always wanted to die…"

She wondered how deep the place was… she had no clue as to how high up she was anyway, so what did it matter if her were hovering one metre off the ground or two hundred? She felt her grip slip slightly, and she scrambled desperately to regain her hold. Then, she cursed herself for being weak. She was afraid of death. That was the one thing she knew absolutely nothing about, and it frightened her.

"I'm such a bloody coward." Hermione muttered as she attempted to re-established her hold.

It should be so easy, just to let go, and fly through the air. She would probably be unconscious by the time she hit the ground anyway, if she was high enough. One action, with no turning back. All she needed was the determination to do it, to succeed and triumph over her cowardice. Over her past.

She took a few deep breaths to steady her heart beat, before she looked up one last time and smiled.

"Good bye…"

Then, she let go.

Dear Readers,

I would like to apologise profusely (again) for my sporadic updating. I deserve to be tied up and roasted alive, I know. Thank you all for coming this far with me (if you have managed to). I have some new fics that I'll be uploading, and I will definitely be uploading more of Blind this week. I hope that these three new chapters will keep you going for the next few days. I'm just doing the usual spell-checks etc. before I upload.

And a special mention to all of my reviewers for encouraging and helping me. Without you I would have given up ages ago:

HellHathNoFuryLikeMine

Lala

MeganConsoer

Cjlthumper

Jocelyn Padoga

HedwigsHaven

CareBearErin

Voldemort's Daughter

Honeyduck

Goddess Virgo of the Fae

Jessica

Barbara

Summery-ice

Lavender Ashes

Quill

PotionsMistress

JUST HARRY

Severessa

Severus-Fan

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Greek Goddess

Miranda

BatmansBabe

EnchantingFreak

Arabella Minerva

June

Thank you for reading.

-- blossomedangel--