Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Okay…I couldn't put everything I originally planned in this chapter. It was already longer than usual. So…please review and let me know what you think!

Chapter Thirteen

Trust

Rabastan sat on the sofa in the front room. His nose had finally stopped bleeding. Severus had begrudgingly fixed his broken nose. The black eye, Severus refused to heal which left Rabastan sitting there with an icepack on his eye. The house had grown quiet with Draco's departure. The boy seemed to bring chaos into any house with him.

Across the room Severus sat at a desk with one of the lists going through separating those to inform the Order about. Severus' quill quickly moved across a piece of parchment. Sitting in his usual chair, Lucius held the other list, studying those on it and making mental notes of character and family loyalties. This happened every year and every year it became more and more difficult. Rabastan remained on the sofa, sulking, holding the ice pack on his eye.

Severus stopped writing momentarily when Hermione quietly stepped into the room. Without lifting his head up he watched her. She was watching Rabastan with her face scrunched up in guilt. Slowly, she walked over and sat next to him. Fiddling with her hands in her lap she attempted an apology.

"I apologize for my rash behavior. I am a prisoner here and should behave as such."

Severus' head shot up…anger rolling off him. A voice in the back of his head told him she was right though. Hermione was not invited to spend the summer with him…she was delivered by force. Looking back down at his parchment he continued to listen to Hermione talking with Rabastan.

Rabastan slowly lowered the icepack. Hermione looked up at him. His hair was not tied back today and hung down around his face. It did not hide the black eye though.

"You have nothing to apologize for." He placed the icepack on the table. "I was out of line with what I did and should not have drugged your firewhiskey."

Hermione silently looked at him. His eyes bore pleadingly into hers.

"Am I forgiven," he finally asked.

Hermione sighed as if it was really beyond her control.

"Yes, you are forgiven." She reached up placing her hand on his cheek to turn his face in order to better look at his eye. Severus once again stopped writing as Hermione reached up, moving Rabastan's hair to behind his ear. Looking over the top of the parchment he held, Lucius looked from the two on the sofa to a very still Severus Snape.

"I don't have my wand," Hermione whispered. Biting her bottom lip for a moment she placed her hand over his eye and closed her own eyes for a moment. Lucius and Severus both watched in amazement as her hand seemed to emit a tranquil blue light. She opened her eyes slowly as she took her hand away. Severus could see it in her eyes. The intense amount of wandless magic it took for her to heal Rabastan had drained her energy quite a bit.

"Thank you," Rabastan whispered.

Hermione smiled weakly. Rabastan's hand reached out, tucking a bit of hair behind Hermione's ear. Snape cleared his throat.

"That will do Rabastan. The Princess has a lesson to attend to."

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Severus stood there with his arms crossed over his chest and his scowl perfectly in place. Hermione looked up at him from her position on the floor as she slowly lifted herself up from the ground.

"Miss Granger, you must place the memory you want me to see at the forefront of your mind. Those memories you do not want me to see must remain out of your mind…out of your thoughts."

She glared at him as she righted herself on her feet.

"I know, professor," she spat right back at him.

His eyes narrowed at her insolence.

"Then am I to assume, Miss Granger that you wanted me to witness your adolescent snog with Krum?" One eyebrow arched, waiting for a reply.

Hermione's hands were clutched into fists at her sides as she responded through clenched teeth.

"No, sir."

He nodded his head.

"Then pick a memory and we shall try again."

She continued to glare at him as if defying his demands. Sighing, he pinched the area between his eyes. He looked back up at her, frustration, aggravation clear on his face. Slowly, he started walk around her.

"Miss Granger, you are standing before the Dark Lord." He paused behind her and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "And he wants information. He wants you." A shiver ran through her, shaking her body involuntarily. He began circling her again. "What are you going to allow him to see…what memory will you keep open for him that will give him the information he desires and yet keep everyone safe. What information will you give him to show that despite your muggle lineage, despite your Gryffindor house…you hold just as much cunning, just as much ability as any Slytherin?"

As he was circling her, Hermione could see the memories running through her head as if she were categorizing them as he spoke. Tucking some away to be temporarily lost and forgotten while keeping others open. His voice shook her entire body…seeming to caress it. When he finally stepped in front of her with his wand poised he was met with a Hermione Granger with a look of pure determination and fire dancing in her eyes. He didn't utter the spell…she needed to know how to do this without forewarning of hearing the spell spoken.

Hermione stood strong allowing Snape access to her mind…to the memory she had called forth. Snape saw Hermione sitting alone in the Gryffindor common room. She had a piece of parchment before her and her wand in hand. He recognized the curse by her wand movements. Rolling the parchment up, she tucked it into her robes before she was joined by Harry and Ron. Then they were sitting at the Hog's Head discussing Umbridge's teaching methods and the start of Dumbledore's Army. Hermione pulled out the parchment for all those joining to sign. In the back of Snape's own mind he smiled. He remembered that girl…a Ravenclaw it seemed who had the word "sneak" cursed across her face. Now, he knew why.

Suddenly memories rushed around him and through Hermione's mind.

"No, Ronald…he's our professor…its Professor Snape, Harry….he is on our side now…"

She crumpled to the ground again, feeling the hardwood floors knock her kneecaps loudly again. Exasperated, Snape stepped forward. Grabbing Hermione by her upper arm, he forced her quickly up onto her feet. Keeping a hold of her, he glared at her seething. Hermione could see the anger dancing in his dark eyes like a roaring fire. Keeping a hold of her upper arm, he backed her up into the book cases. She gasped in surprise at the abrupt halt when she hit the rows of books. Snape glared down into her eyes.

"Well, Miss Granger. It is a good thing this is just practice and that I am not the Dark Lord. If so you would have just sentenced me to certain death."

Hermione stared at him, wide-eyed and fearful for the truth Snape just spoke. Yes, if she were facing Voldemort she would have given Snape away without even trying to. He would be killed…and it would be her fault. Snape noticed something shift in her. No longer was she looking at him simply wide-eyed as if he had startled her with his sudden movements. Now, she looked at him wide-eyed as a single tear began to glide down her cheek from the corner of her eye. Beneath his fingers he felt her body trembling.

For a moment he could see his father looking down at his mother cowering in fear. But Snape was not his father. Slowly he loosened his grip on Hermione and took a step back, pinching the area between his eyes again. He waved his hand as if shooing a fly away.

"Go, Miss Granger. We will continue this later."

Through his veil of black hair, Snape saw Hermione stand up straight and wipe the tears away as if they hand insulted her.

"No."

Snape looked up directly at her.

"Pardon me?"

Angrily she wiped away another set of tears.

"I said no. I will not be the one to betray you, sir. I will do this until it is second nature to me."

Severus felt his eyebrow shoot up in the air at her words and silently wondered if his eyebrow could go any higher.

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Lucius was slowly and as quietly as any good Slytherin walking down the stairs when he noticed Rabastan. He was leaning against the wall by the entranceway of the front room. He brought the bottle he held to his lips, tilting it back, and letting the bottle slide down to his fingertips and hang there. His head was turned slightly letting Lucius know that Rabastan was listening in on Hermione's Occlumency lesson.

Rabastan's eyes shifted to the stairway noticing Lucius. He brought his finger up to his lips to indicate silence while keeping the bottle in hand. Lucius slowed his pace and stood on the bottom step listening.

Hermione was on the floor again. Her exasperation was evident as she growled out in anger. Severus watched her rise from the ground, dusting herself off. He had to admit she had improved…it took longer for him to break through the chosen memory and into the dark corners of her mind. Though what he found there intrigued him. Many times it was Hermione sticking up for him against those two dunderheads she calls friends. On several occasions he broke through to view moments in her various adventures with Potter.

Then he broke through to a memory…the memory that drew the lesson to an end for the day…the memory that tore at Severus, leaving him lost and befuddled. The memories rushed through Hermione's mind like a movie in fast forward only stopping at points to slow down and take a deeper look.

"…Snape…"

She was standing by Bill's hospital bed with Harry and Ron. Harry had just told them what he saw on the tower…that Snape killed Dumbledore. There was a quick flash of a white tomb and then the most unusual sight for Snape. Hermione Granger standing outside his old office. He could tell this was after the events on the tower…possibly after Dumbledore's funeral as there were several lines of tape warning outsiders about crossing those lines. It reminded Hermione of a police line at the scene of a crime. She was standing there staring at the door. Turning, she leaned against the wall next to his old office door and slowly slid to the floor. Pulling her knees up to her, she rested her forehead on her knees. She was mumbling and it looked as if she were possibly sobbing. When the Hermione in her memory looked up, Snape saw the tears. She leaned her head on the wall and cut her eyes toward the door.

"Why," she whispered to the door. "I trusted you."

Her voice got a little louder and her face seemed to change. The tears still poured, but now there seemed to be a hint of anger behind them. She stood abruptly and began pacing angrily back and forth in the corridor in front of his old office door. The more she walked passed the door the more her anger grew and the louder she got.

"I trusted you…I trusted you…I TRUSTED YOU!"

The tears flowed down her cheeks…anger flowing from her very being. She stormed back and forth looking at the door…yelling with such vehemence…such betrayal sounded in the corridor. Severus had a feeling that if he were present at that time he would feel the magic rolling off her. Finally she stopped directly in front of his office door.

"I TRUSTED YOU!"

As she screamed out the last bit of rage she was holding, every sconce along the corridor…every painting…every cabinet flew forward, crashing into his office door. The fire dancing in the sconces set it all ablaze as she collapsed in the corridor.

Snape pulled away. Hermione was crumpled on the floor whimpering. He had stayed in her memories longer than usual having become fascinated with her reaction to his betrayal. He watched silently as she wiped tears away again before standing up. Snape cleared his throat uncomfortably and stepped forward offering her his hand. Cautiously she took it and was amazed at how gentle he pulled her up this time.

"Perhaps we should break for now, Miss Granger."

"Yes," she whispered and looked down at their hands. He still had a gentle hold of her hand. She took a quick glance up. Snape seemed not to notice that he still had a hold of her. His face held no expression beyond his usual snarkiness. Quickly, she looked back down at their hands. Hers seemed so small in his…not like a child's hand inside of an adults…no, different, much different.

The memory was fresh in Snape's mind. He could still hear her yelling "I trusted you" and it seemed to echo tauntingly in his own mind.

"You trusted me, Miss Granger?"

She swallowed. Briefly she thought of lying to him, but she was so weakened from these lessons she knew he would see straight through her. Not to mention the fact that he just saw that particular memory. Slowly, she looked up at him again. His hair hung forward, framing his face. His eyes bore intensely into her own as she gently nodded her head.

"With my life," she said just above a whisper. Gently, she pulled her hand out of his and walked pass him. Her movement brought Snape's attention to the fact that he still held her hand throughout those moments. He looked down at his own hand scowling as if it had betrayed him.

Outside the room, Lucius was frozen on the bottom step. Rabastan was frozen with the bottle halfway to his mouth. His eyes turned toward Lucius as if checking that he just heard what he thought he just heard. It was clear to both the eavesdroppers that whatever memory Snape accessed had upset Hermione greatly. As she crossed the threshold in a quick escape, a hand reached out grabbing her arm. She noticed Lucius frozen on the stairs looking at her…his face blank. Turning slowly she saw Rabastan had grabbed her arm. The look on his face was not the usual flirtiness he often portrayed, but friendly…compassionate. He nodded his head at her as if giving her permission to cry.

She felt the tears begin to fall fast down her cheeks. Rabastan opened his arms in invitation. She couldn't resist the invitation. That whole occlumency experience was draining and with that last memory it brought back so many feelings to the surface bubbling over, that she could no longer take it. Rabastan wrapped his arms around her sobbing form and pulled her into the shadows of the darkness behind the staircase. Lucius headed to the kitchen passing Snape along the way.

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Severus Snape was having his own problems. Every time he pushed passed Hermione's proffered memory into various others and it astounded him how often he was a part of those…even if just in conversation.

"…Professor Snape, Harry…"

"...Dumbledore trusts Professor Snape, Ron…"

"…He's on our side now Harry…"

"…I TRUSTED YOU…"

Severus stormed from the front room. He ran up the stairs two at a time ignoring Lucius making his way to the kitchen and not noticing the dark shadowed peopled under the stairs. He stormed down the hall, passed his own room and through open another door…the door to the unused the room…the room that was his mother's as a child.

Flying into the room he swiftly…angrily tossed a large deep blue covering off a large object stored in the room. Severus, gasping out of breath, stood there before the blasted Mirror of Erised. He reached up, snatching the folded parchment tucked into the frame. He had yet to read it…Dumbledore left that blasted mirror to him and he never read the note. The guilt washed over him as he read Dumbledore's handwriting.

Just in case you need reminding, Severus.

Looking up into the mirror he saw himself…standing next to Hermione Granger.

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Hermione sat her tea cup down laughing though her face was still tear-stained. Taking another sip of tea she smiled as the warmness seemed to flow through her. A realization came to Hermione at that moment. She allowed a man to comfort her who had been thought to have a hand in the Longbottom's torture. The man who had to stand idly by and watch it happen. All the members of these Knights have had to do things they did not want to…especially those who were spies for the Order. Obviously, Snape had to also and for him to be free and not in Azkaban meant killing Dumbledore was one of those things.

Sitting her tea cup back down, she looked over at Rabastan.

"Professor Snape was rather close with Professor Dumbledore wasn't he?"

Lucius' eyebrow rose in surprise at this seemingly out of the ordinary question. Rabastan's eyes shifted to Lucius for a moment as if debating whether or not to divulge that sort of information, but experience taught him not to keep anything from her. He took a long sip of his tea, stalling the inevitable. He nodded his head as he sat the tea cup down.

"Yes, Dumbledore was like a father to him."

Hermione looked down at the tea swirling in her cup.

"It must have been awful for him…he couldn't even pay his respects properly like everyone else."

Rabastan looked at her with a bittersweet smile on his face.

"I need a favor," she said looking at Rabastan with wide bright eyes.

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Severus stood in the shower letting the water pelt down over his body as if trying to beat away all of the day's events. He had stayed clear of Hermione for the remainder of the day. Too much ran through his mind involving that Insufferable-Know-It-All. With a growl directed toward himself, he turned the water off and stepped out of the shower.

Severus stepped out of the bathroom to find Hermione Granger sitting cross-legged on the bed, her head faced down, but her eyes were up looking at the bathroom door as he walked out. An odd luminous light danced off her face. Severus' eyes glanced down noticing a pensieve sitting in front of her. It took a wand to extract any memory and place it in a pensieve and Hermione had no wand and that was not a usual wandless magic type of thing. Severus quirked an eyebrow.

Hermione looked down at the contents. For a moment Severus was fascinated by the way the light of the memories danced over her face. He cleared his throat.

"Please come here," she said softly. "Rabastan helped me with this."

Snape cautiously walked over to the bed and sat down next to her.

"What is this Miss Granger? I do not have time for petty teenage memories," he spat at the image of a teary Hermione floated up from the memories. She snorted next to him only causing his anger to rise. When she looked up at him she saw his narrowed angry eyes and she actually smiled.

"Its just a memory I thought you might appreciate."

This time he snorted.

"Professor, it is Professor Dumbledore's funeral…you were unable to be there and this is the only way I could think of to let you be there."

He stared at her dumbfounded despite his look of annoyance. Quickly she grabbed his arm and dove into the memory.

They landed on the grounds of Hogwarts near the lake. Hermione turned to look at him. He towered over her as he took in the somber surroundings. Looking around Hermione noticed people were beginning to take their seats.

"This way, Professor," Hermione said.

Snape looked toward her and noticed her walking toward two chairs in a nearby row. She pulled a Snape and simply assumed he would follow. She sat down and waited for him to join her.

"Won't there be others sitting here?"

She shook her head no and he wondered briefly how she knew this. Then he saw it. In the row in front of him, just a few people down sat Hermione and Ron. The Hermione in the memory turned around…eyes eerily landing on Severus as if she could see him…or sense him. Severus' eyes narrowed at the "couple" sitting together and his eyes twitched to the Hermione next to him.

Hermione felt Snape stiffen next to her when Hagrid began to carry Professor Dumbledore's deathly still body down the aisle to the altar. Guilt and sadness washed over him like a bucket of ice cold water. He did that. This was his doing no matter how you looked at it. Hermione looked down. Snape's hands were clutched in tight closed fists where they had been resting on his legs.

Reaching out, Hermione placed her hand over one of his tight closed fists. Severus felt the warmth of her small hand on his fist…it was the only warmth he felt in this cold memory. Hagrid sat Dumbledore's body down and went to his seat crying. Snape avoided looking down at his hands as his fist automatically loosened free of their tight fist and allowed Hermione's to slide into his.

The funeral continued and Hermione looked up into Snape's face. He was a mask of bitterness, but something flashed in his eyes. Was it guilt or sorrow? Hermione was unsure which. Her other hand reached over and wrapped around the hand she already held. As the altar Dumbledore's body sat upon burst into flames, Snape looked down. His large hand was clasped between Hermione's small ones as if she were trying to shield it…protect it from some outside force.

"I trusted you…"

Snape's eyes shifted to the row in front of them and landed on the Hermione and Ron in the memory. Ron was comforting the crying girl. With a quirked eyebrow Snape looked from the memory couple to his hand inside Hermione's. He slowly extricated his hand from hers and the memory began to fade.

Hermione found herself back on the bed in front of the pensieve. Snape stood immediately looming over her, arms crossed over his chest, scowl perfectly in place. Leaning down toward her, looking livid as if he would attack, Snape moved closer. Hermione instinctively backed away until she hit the headboard and could go no further. Snape leaned down, inches from her face, staring into her eyes.

"What possessed you, Miss Granger to think I wanted to see such a memory," he spoke in a deadly whisper.

Her eyes did not move from his.

"I knew you would have been there if you could," her voice quavered slightly as if she was unsure as to his mental stability at that moment. Yet she stood her ground.

"Indeed?"

She couldn't nod her head. He was too close for her to do that.

"Yes," she whispered. "Everyone needs closure, sir."

A myriad of memories flashed through his mind at once.

"He's on our side…The woman she will become…I trusted you…"

Hermione was frozen as Severus seemed to inch closer to her if that were possible.

"Closure indeed," he spoke rather softly for Professor Snape. Hermione could feel her heart pounding. Professor Snape seemed not in his right mind at that moment. His eyes flashed with something she was not sure of and immediately her mind took her to that night he had her pushed against the window. It flashed in her mind like a slap in the face. Her heart rate increased. Snape looked from her lips to her eyes and smirked slightly. He turned toward her ear instead.

"Perhaps, Miss Granger, you should keep those thoughts to yourself."

Swiftly standing up, he flicked his wand and instantly he was a fully dressed Death Eater standing before her. She watched his robes billowing behind him as he left the room.