Sorry for the long wait guys. I've had a bit of writer's block to get through. Thanks for sticking with me all this time! And I finally reached 100 reviews!!!! Great job everyone!!! Enjoy and Happy Reading

Chapter 21

Realizations

Hermione woke up with a small moan and glanced around the room to determine her surroundings. They were all too familiar to her by now. Severus must have carried her here last night after she passed out. She wished she had gotten more answers out of the man before she lost consciousness.

She could tell that it was extremely early and she hoped that Severus would still be asleep in his own room. She quietly tiptoed out of the dungeons without waking the dark man up and made her way back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Her body was incredibly stiff from the events of the last night. Her muscles screamed at her to stop moving and rest, but Hermione had other plans. She couldn't let her double life get in the way of her schooling.

After whispering the password to the Fat Lady, Hermione entered the safety of the Common Room. She eventually made her way all the way to the girl's bathroom to get herself ready for classes.

She opened the door to the bathroom and walked over to turn on one of the showers so it could take the time it needed to warm up. As she turned back towards her right, she caught her reflection in one of the mirrors.

She touched her cheeks and eyes and noted the extreme exhaustion that was clearly present. Maybe she had been pushing herself too far with this whole spying gig.

Her hair was an awful mess too. The thick curls were entangled with each other and Hermione knew it was going to be a nightmare to get this back to normal without magic. With that thought she curled a stray strand behind her left ear and gasped when her fingertips grazed a tender spot behind her earlobe. She touched it again to make sure she wasn't imagining the pain and when it hurt again she took a closer look in the mirror.

She gasped in horror when she saw what was there. Right behind her ear was a small tattoo of a skull. In all the mayhem with Severus and Draco last night she had forgotten that the Dark Lord had given her his own special mark. She wondered when the unannounced torture from her dear Dark Lord would start. It would undoubtedly be outrageously painful and inconvenient. She sighed to herself once more.

'I guess this is the life of a mudblood in his ranks,' Hermione muttered sarcastically aloud.

As the steam began to envelop the mirror that she was looking in, she remembered that her shower was still running.

Hermione quickly divestioed her clothes and stepped into the scalding hot shower. She sighed in relief as the deliciously warm water ran over her tired and worn out body. She stood there for a few moments just basking in the water as it worked out the kinks in her muscles.

She reached up once again to graze the dark mark behind her ear. All at once the memories from last night came rushing back. Her eyes went wide as she realized what she had willingly done last night.

She killed Oliver Wood and his entire family without thinking twice about it.

Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes as the impact of her actions overwhelmed her. Before she knew it full-on sobs were wracking her body as she slid down the shower wall and sat on the wet tile floor.

She wrapped her arms around her knees and sobbed and sobbed until the water began to run cold. She didn't know how long she had been in there but she willed the pain to go away. How could she have been such a monster?

With sobs still heaving out of her chest the shower door quickly opened and revealed Lavender Brown just standing there and staring at Hermione.

Hermione didn't even notice Lavender's presence until she began to speak, "Are you alright, Hermione?"

Hermione looked up at the voice that was coming from the stall's door. She pushed herself off the ground, turned off the shower, and wrapped a towel around her body before answering the girl," I'll be fine. Just leave me alone."

Hermione ran off to her own dorm with Lavender still standing in the bathroom wondering what had been wrong with Hermione.

As soon as Hermione flopped herself onto her bed she knew that she was going to be confronted by the boys some time that day. Lavender Brown was the school's biggest gossip after all.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

After getting dressed and throwing on a few glamours to hide her exhaustion from the rest of the school body, Hermione headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

As she plopped down onto the bench at the Gryffindor table she looked around and noticed that not many students had come down from their Common Rooms yet. She was relieved. It was going to be nice to actually eat a meal in peace.

Her peace was quickly shattered when Ron and Harry sat down on either side of her and began piling food onto their plates. Hermione gave both of them a disgusted look as they shoveled their food into their mouths.

"Oi, 'Mione. Where have you been lately?" Ron questioned as food came spitting out of his mouth and into her face.

As she flicked a chunk of biscuit off her eyebrow she said," Lovely, Ronald. How many times have I told you to eat like a normal human rather then a hippogriff? I swear even Buckbeak has better table manners then you."

Ron just rolled his eyes in return and set back to his plate.

This cued Harry to chime in," But seriously, Hermione, where have you been? We were looking for you all over again last night."

"I was at my apprenticeship last night again. I'm sorry I forgot to remind you about that. Between that and studying for the N.E.W.T.S I've had almost no time for myself. You guys understand right?" She pleaded with the boys.

This time it was Harry's turn to roll his eyes at her," Yeah, yeah we know. These exams are going to determine our future."

There was an awkward moment of silence before Harry and Ron glanced at each other as if having a non-verbal fight before Ron nudged Harry and prompted him to speak.

"Uhhh…listen Hermione. Lavender was talking to us in the Common Room and she told us about what happened this morning," Harry started.

Hermione seethed a little, "Oh and what did Lav-Lav have to say?"

Harry gulped once before continuing," Well she said that you were sobbing on the shower floor when she walked in on you. We just wanted to make sure everything was alright. You still seem pretty sad even now."

"I'm fine. I just had a rough night last night. One of my potions exploded and I was just upset about it this morning," Hermione said as she went back to eating her food. She didn't make eye contact with either boy as she spoke.

Ron and Harry shared another glance, obviously not believing her story.

Ron wrapped an arm around Hermione's shoulders before saying," You know you can always tell us what's really bothering you, 'Mione. We're here for you."

Hermione looked up and nodded her head in thanks at the normally insensitive Ron.

The tender moment was interrupted by the screeched of the incoming owl post. Harry and Hermione each reached for the Daily Prophet's that were dropped unceremoniously in front of them.

Harry gasped out loud while holding the paper in front of him," I can't believe those bastards got him and his family too!"

Hermione was afraid to look at the headlines of her newspaper for she knew exactly what was going to be written there. She finally put on a brave face and pulled the paper to her face. All she needed to see was the headline before she slammed the paper back down onto the table.

"Star Puddlemere United Keeper, Oliver Wood and Family Murdered by Death Eaters"

Harry read the entire article before slamming it down on the table too," Can you believe this? They murdered his wife and two kids too. And for no reason, just for their own sick entertainment. What did he ever do to them?"

Ron was angry as well," This is just another reason why we need to end this war and soon. We can't let that bloody bastard keep going around and killing all of our friends. Can you believe this, 'Mione?"

Hermione tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to leak out of her eyes once more and shook her head. She didn't trust her voice to not give her away.

As the boys continued to rant with the rest of the Gryffindors, Hermione looked over at the Slytherin table.

Draco looked at her with compassion, asking her without words if she was alright. He knew this was hard for her. Killing your friends in cold-blood isn't exactly the easiest activity. She nodded back in response even though her heart was breaking on the inside.

She felt the glare in the back of her head before she actually saw it. As she turned her head slightly she caught the gaze of Severus. He actually seemed to be concerned for a moment before he broke eye-contact with her and went back to eating his meal and whispering with Dumbledore.

His actions hurt Hermione even more. She excused herself from the arguments that were taking place at her own table before heading out of the Great Hall before she broke down into tears.

Double Potions was going to be hell.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

A/N:

Sorry it's a little short. I'm trying to break my writer's block. And I figured writing at least some sort of a new chapter would help

Thanks to my reviewers from last chapter: Emilyaten, bran4ever, pstibbons, lk-hogwarts-headgirl, debjunk, and jessirose85. Love you guys!