Hey guys!

I just wanted to thank you for all the reviews! Lets try for 170? Your reviews really inspire me to keep going seeing as there are TONS of you who enjoy this :)

Special note to ErinMiggErin: I actually began writing this over the summer, literally, I locked myself in my room for about two weeks and was spitting out about 30,000 words a day. Once I got to school, I all but stopped writing this, but I just started posting what I had already written in the summer. I try to write however many pages I posted that week. For example, this chapter is 10 pages, so by next Tuesday, I'll try to have another ten done so I never catch up with myself. I find writting chapter by chapter never works for me. Right now, in word, this story is 294 pages long, and I just posted number 238. It's one HUGE document, but I split it into chapters as I post it. Hope I didn't ramble too much :)

Read, enjoy, and review!

Without saying a word she slid her books from her lap and climbed from the bed before pulling on her travelling cloak. Taking a deep breath she left the bedroom and found Severus leaning against the liquor cabinet, with a glass in his hand. Briefly her eyes flitted to his figure, and in that time he offered the glass to her, but she shook her head once and turned away to stand near the door.

Hermione heard him approach her, but she didn't dare look at him. Suddenly a package was being held out to her, and there was no mistaking the shape; it was a book. Instinctively her hands reached for it, but it was suddenly pulled away from her, and she raised her eyes to his which were burning deeply.

"You can only get this under one condition," he said, staring straight into her eyes.

She didn't move a muscle.

"I want you to fight when you're in there, do you understand? You are not going to let him win. I don't even care if you don't use the memories we've been working on, but in three hours, you're going to walk back in here, okay?"

The emotions Hermione had been trying to bottle up all day came bubbling to the surface. She nodded her head as tears filled her eyes. His knuckles were white as he held the book tightly in his grip. For another moment the two stood awkwardly together, not meeting each other's eyes. Finally, Severus placed the parcel down and grabbed his travelling cloak.

Hermione stumbled into the hallway, taking deep breaths and swiping away tears in the process. Severus joined her a moment later and instantly took her hand before Apparating. When they touched the ground, Hermione instantly turned on him.

"How did you do that?"

Severus looked at her as if she had just asked him how he breathed.

"I've read in Hogwarts: A History that it's impossible to Apparate on school grounds, there are enchantments to prevent travelling,"

Severus offered her a small smirk before pulling her towards the house that threatened to swallow them whole.

"Being Headmaster does have its perks," he said with a small smile in his voice.

"You can Apparate on grounds?" she asked, amazed.

"Yes, I can,"

"That's…that's amazing," she said, her mind whirling in an effort to grasp the fact that he had just proved her favorite book wrong.

Her wonder quickly ended as they began to climb the steps of the house. Hermione gripped his hand tighter as the door opened. Hermione withdrew slightly at the sight of Bellatrix Lestrange. The woman eyed Severus up and down with a gleam in her eye and a smirk on her lips. If Hermione wasn't so frightened, she would have glared at her.

The woman's eyes flashed to Hermione, and her face viciously twisted into a sneer, as if Hermione was nothing but a pile of garbage on the front step. She spit at her feet, and Hermione pulled back slightly.

"Watch yourself, Bella, I'm growing tired of your childish antics," Severus bit out.

"Really? I'm surprised that you haven't grown tired of this little-"

"Bella, I'm not going to warn you again,"

"Come Severus," she purred out, running a boney finger down his chest. "Certainly you can't be happy with just this Mudblood…you know I'm always free,"

Hermione found herself digging her fingers into the back of his hand.

"The Dark Lord requested a meeting, and that is the only business that I've come here for. You can take your…services elsewhere,"

Her face suddenly became very cold as her back straightened.

"He only wants the filth, not you," she snapped.

Severus stiffened slightly.

"I was entrusted with this task, I do not trust you," he sneered.

"I don't care! The Dark Lord told me to bring it up, and you are to wait out here!" she screeched.

Instantly Bellatrix snatched Hermione's free arm and yanked her forward and into the house. Hermione cried out, still straining to keep Severus with her, but it was no use. His fingers were yanked from hers as she was forced into the dark, musky house.

"No!" Hermione cried turning and reaching for him.

She saw a flash of panic in his dark eyes as his hand began to reach for her, but before much more could happen, Bellatrix slammed the door shut, sealing Hermione inside, alone. As Hermione's hands touched the door, something smashed into the small of her back, causing her to cry out and crumble to the floor.

"I've been waiting a long time to do that," Bellatrix hissed in the dark. "It's a shame that we don't have more time together,"

Suddenly Hermione was being pulled up by her hair, and she gave a small yelp as tears sprung into her eyes. She was yanked up the stairs, stumbling after the woman who had a tight hold on her hair.

A moment later Hermione was pulled into a room and thrown to the floor.

"Thank you Bellatrix, for bringing in our guest," a cold voice said.

"Anything for you, Master," she replied, bowing deeply.

"Leave us,"

Bellatrix looked up, as if she was expecting to stay and enjoy the show.

"Now," he snapped coldly.

With a note of protest in her throat, Bellatrix stormed from the room, slamming the door behind her. A moment of silence ensued and Hermione pulled herself from the floor, staring at the occupied arm chair near the fireplace.

"I believe you and I have some business to attend to, I have yet to discover a way past that old man's restrictions. That leaves me with a small widow of time, and I don't intend to waste it,"

Before Hermione could process the words, she was suddenly shoved off her feet and went crashing to the floor. Without a moments rest, instantly pain was coursing through her body, causing her to scream without restraint.

The pain seemed to last forever, and Hermione was about to allow herself to slip into the darkness, but the pain ended, yanking her back into consciousness.

"Now, let us begin,"

Hermione's mind flitted back to her promise to Severus, and knew it would be a difficult task to complete.

As the time slipped by, Voldemort tortured her, invaded her mind, and tortured her some more. At some point, her nose had started to bleed, from what, she didn't know nor did she care. All she could feel was her screaming muscles and her pounding head. She didn't even know if she had slipped, she felt her mind spinning and twirling, unable to pull herself together.

She opened her eyes and found Voldemort staring at her on the ground, and suddenly his brow furrowed. He swung his wand through the air, and Hermione tensed for another attack, only it didn't come. Voldemort tried again, and nothing happened. He took a step forward, and stumbled backward.

"BRING ME SEVERUS! NOW!"

There was a flurry of movement and Hermione tried to keep her eyes from rolling back in her head. The break in torture allowed her to get a better grip on herself. Her eyes saw black boots, the same boots she had the pleasure of seeing beside the bed every morning.

"Why can't I touch her?" Voldemort snapped, circling her like he was about to attack.

"The three hours have ended, you cannot touch her," Severus replied sounding slightly strained.

Hermione sighed at the sound of his voice washing over her.

"Bellatrix, come here," Voldemort snapped.

She eagerly stepped forward rocking back and forth, anxious to serve her Lord.

"See if you can touch the Mudblood," he said, staring at Hermione's form.

Hermione watched as Bellatrix licked her lips, with a crazed look in her eyes before stepping forward. Her heart was pounding in her chest as Bellatrix's boot clicks echoed around the hall. Suddenly, she was shoved backwards with a shocked look on her face. She came forward again, and the same thing happened.

"Everyone get out, now," Voldemort snapped.

The room immediately emptied, leaving Hermione alone. She took this time to sit up and look around her. Voldemort repeatedly tried to curse her or attack her, but nothing worked, and he was clearly becoming angry.

"I will find a way to get by this," he growled at her before emitting a yell and exploding a hole in the wall.

"Get out! NOW!" he roared at her.

Hermione didn't need to be told twice. She jumped to her feet before hitting the ground again and scrambling to the door. Hermione barely made it down the stairs on her feet, mainly leaning on the wall and stumbling forward. Blindly she found the door knob and fell out into the cool night, the air feeling cooler to her body due to the thin layer of sweat covering her skin.

Before she could look around, Hermione bent over the railing on the stairs and emptied the contents of her stomach. As she took a deep breath, Hermione could feel him near her, and then could feel his hands.

"I'm fine," she rasped pushing him away slightly before grasping the railing again while forcing deep breaths into her body.

He still held her hand, regardless. It suddenly sounded like someone was throwing things around inside the house and Hermione stood to her full height.

"We should leave," Severus said in a hoarse voice.

Hermione nodded and began heading down the stairs before she was suddenly stopped by a hand on her arm.

"I can walk, I'm fine," she muttered before shakily walking down the stairs.

The gravel crunched beneath her feet as her eyes remained locked on the gate, focusing on making her feet move. With each step her legs screamed out in agony and she knew the man dressed in black beside her was watching her every move. Each breath she took made her body tense with pain, and she knew she wouldn't hold out much longer.

Once they were outside of the gate, Severus took her hand, and the pain that Hermione felt from being pulled through space was nearly unbearable. The moment their feet struck the soft ground of Hogwarts, Hermione sunk to her knees breathing raggedly.

"Just give me a second," she bit out through the pain.

"I think it's about time you learn to swallow your pride," Severus snapped as Hermione sat on the ground with her eyes closed.

"This coming from the man who-"

Her retort was closed off as she was abruptly lifted into the air by a pair of strong arms. Instinctively her arms wrapped around his neck as he began moving towards the castle. Hermione gasped in pain as his arm pressed into the small of her back where Bellatrix had hit her with something. Instantly he froze as she pulled herself tighter to his chest in an effort to remove the weight from her back.

"Lift your arm a little higher," she bit out.

He did as he was instructed and she relaxed against him. They began moving again and Hermione lifted her head to look at his face.

"Why don't you just Apparate in?" she asked him.

"It's too dangerous. The odds of the Carrows stalking around are too much to risk. The less they see of you, the more comfortable I'll feel leaving you by yourself,"

"I don't want you to carry me all the way into the castle," she complained.

"Shh," he said as they approached the doors.

He placed her feet on the ground, but she still clung to his body for support. Severus pulled out his wand and opened the doors that lead into the Entrance Hall. Hermione stepped in after him and the door closed with a thud behind her. The two stood for a moment, completely still, listening to any sound of movement. Severus deemed it safe enough for he took her hand and began to lead her to the stairs. Hermione tried her best to keep up with him, but once they began descending the stairs, she stopped, wincing with the pain that was emanating from her lower back.

"I-I can't," she said leaning against the wall.

Suddenly there were footsteps echoing above their heads, and both looked up, holding their breath. Hermione looked at him panicked when the footsteps began heading closer and closer to them.

"Come on," Severus muttered, handing her his wand, grabbing her arms and wrapping them around his neck before gently lifting her from the ground.

Without missing a beat he began slipping down the stairs, into the darkness, avoiding their pursuer. Hermione tightened her arms around his neck, breathing heavily against his skin. The moment he stumbled in the darkness, she lit his wand, causing him to become slightly startled.

"You're going to give us away," he grunted out, still striding down the hallway gracefully.

"You can't see,"

He didn't respond as they finally reached the portrait of the knight. Severus gently set Hermione down on her feet before pushing the door open and ushering her inside. The second the door closed behind him, Hermione sighed in relief and sunk onto the sofa.

"Don't get too comfortable," Severus said taking his wand from her and lighting the candles in the room.

Hermione could feel her muscles seizing slightly, and she was only too eager to take the glass of Firewhisky that Severus offered her.

"Let's get you cleaned up," he said heading into the bathroom.

She followed him into the small room before he walked out and into his store room. Hermione looked at herself in the mirror and recoiled slightly.

Her face, below her nose, was covered in blood, along with her hands which she used to wipe her nose at intervals during her torture. Her hair was tangled and matted and her clothes were dirty from the floor she had spent three hours on. Hermione turned her back to the mirror and lifted her shirt so she could see her back.

"Oh, God," she murmured, seeing the extensive bruise on her back which had taken on an ugly dark purple color.

Hermione instantly set to cleaning herself off, starting first with her hands. Severus returned a moment later, just as she was started to clean the blood off her face. The two were quiet as they each set to their own tasks. Hermione found her brush on the sink and began to brush her hair out as Severus placed numerous containers on the counter.

"Sweatshirt," he murmured as he began opening a small container that she was all too familiar with.

Hermione peeled her sweatshirt off, with a little help, and Severus took a look at her large bruise. She could tell he was restraining himself, there was a muscle working in his jaw. He cleared his throat and licked his lips.

"What happened?" he asked, without meeting her eyes.

"When…when the door closed, Bellatrix-"

His eyes snapped to her face, cutting her off. Pure anger was flashing in his eyes, causing her pulse to quicken. Hermione knew he wasn't going to let this go, he was beyond furious.

"Don't tell me she…" he began.

Her silence was enough for him. He slammed the container on the counter and stormed from the room.

"Severus," Hermione said following him.

She entered the room to see him viciously putting on his travelling coat while looking around for his wand. Hermione found his wand on the table and picked it up. His eyes immediately locked on the movement.

"Give me my wand,"

"No," she snapped back.

"Hermione, I'm not going to ask you again," he growled.

"You're being irrational,"

"Irrational? Irrational! How am I being irrational? That woman thinks that she can walk around doing whatever the hell she wants and not get caught?"

"If you go after her, what is that going to say about you? Twenty years is going to be ruined with one action. We can't risk it, not now,"

"What makes you think that she is going to stop? Bellatrix is the most brutal Death Eater there is, she has no conscious, no guilt. She would kill her own mother and not even care. Every time you go there, she is going to pull something like this, and then what? What if she kills you?" he barked.

"She won't. She values her…'Lord's' opinion too highly. She wouldn't do anything that he wouldn't approve of. She is aware that he needs me, and she won't do anything that would severely harm me,"

"Stop trying to rationalize this,"

"I'm not trying to rationalize it," Hermione said. "I'm trying to stop you from doing something that is going to kill us all,"

She knew what was bothering him. He was being forced into this position, being forced to be at the mercy of another person. Hermione sighed and placed his wand back on the table before approaching him. Severus was ridged and glaring at her as she stood in front of him.

"Please,"

Hermione reached up and undid his traveling cloak slowly, watching him closely to see what his reaction was. He allowed her to remove his cloak and fold it over her arm.

"Not tonight,"

Severus sighed, and Hermione noticed how his shoulders slumped slightly. Without speaking, Severus pulled the cloak from her and tossed it over the sofa before pulling her into the bathroom. His face was set as he resumed his work and Hermione continued to clean the blood off of her face.

"Tell me what happened," he said in a monotone voice as he lifted her shirt to reveal the small of her back.

"I was in there alone and he started…with…um…"

His eyes flashed to hers in the mirror as he reached for a glass on the sink.

"I'm nearly forty, I've just about seen it all, I'm sure your story will be one of the less severe," he said handing her a glass filled with a familiar liquid.

She took a generous sip and winced as the burning spread through her throat. Severus returned to his work, silently waiting for her to speak.

"He started using the Cruciatus Curse before trying to see my memories. I started by feeding him what we had been working on, and that worked, but then he really started digging, and he would use the Cruciatus Curse on me for longer periods of time,"

"This might hurt," he muttered as he began to apply the cream on her bruise like he did so many months ago.

She hissed slightly, grabbing onto the counter and grinding her teeth together.

"Continue," he prompted, still focusing on his work.

Hermione dropped her head down allowing her hair to shield her face.

"At one point, I couldn't even think about the memories, I was just trying to keep him out altogether. I used the image of the ocean and then attacked him before he could attack me,"

His fingers froze on her skin and Hermione knew he was looking at her in the mirror.

"What was his response?" he asked, still remaining frozen.

"He was impressed that I knew how to conjure a defense like that. For a while he tested my boundaries,"

"You didn't-"

"I didn't exert more energy than was needed to keep him at bay. I learned from the last time I did that," she muttered with a smile in her voice.

"Good," Severus muttered, pressing his fingers to her bruise again, causing her to shutter slightly.

She pulled away from him because the pain was too much.

"Tender," she gasped feeling her fingers beginning to ache.

"Here," he muttered, handing her the glass of Firewhisky.

Without thinking she downed the rest of the fluid and clumsily dropped the glass into the sink with a shaky hand. Hermione felt his fingers on her skin, but they weren't there to heal her, but rather to comfort her.

"We can stop," he said.

"No, just-hurry up and finish," she said bracing herself.

Hermione watched as he scooped more cream out and looked at her for a moment in the mirror. Severus gently began to apply the cream to her skin, and Hermione sighed at the feeling, even though she knew it wouldn't last long.

"I have to apply pressure now, so the cream can enter your skin," he murmured.

Hermione nodded and lowered her head to prepare herself for the pain. Almost instantly the pain exploded from the small of her back, consuming her body. Her breathing was harsh as the pain in her back grew to an almost unbearable amount. Finally, he pulled his hand away and Hermione lowered her head to the counter with a groan. Severus pulled her shirt down and gently touched her hair.

Hermione pulled herself up, feeling weak, and wouldn't meet his eyes. Severus pulled her face up, forcing her to look at him. His eyes flashed over her face, searching for something.

"Are you okay?" he finally murmured.

Hermione offered him a weak smile, and a single nod of her head.

"I'm just tired," she murmured touching the back of his hand which was still resting on her face.

He took her hand and led her into the bedroom.

"Get ready for bed, I'll clean up,"

Hermione immediately changed and slipped beneath the sheets with a grateful sigh. The Firewhisky made her mind slightly fuzzy and relaxed the pain in her muscles. Hermione let her eyes slip closed and her mind wander. What seemed like hours later, there was a small thud beside her on the nightstand, but she didn't open her eyes to see what it was. Crookshanks had appeared beside her at some point, purring gently against her skin.

Hermione peeled her eyes opened and scanned the room. Apparently Severus was in the bathroom…but had placed a package on her nightstand. It was the same package he had shown her before they had gone.

Pulling her arms from beneath the covers, Hermione pulled the package into her lap and began to gingerly unwrap it. A black book fell into her lap and she pushed the wrappings off the side of the bed. Hermione picked up the book and began to scan through the pages.

The book consisted of what people thought about how curses affected the body, basically, the properties of curses. Hermione eagerly paged through the yellow pages, soaking up everything she could. Severus obviously knew what was going on, what she was always doing. No doubt he had come across her notes at some point.

On the inside cover, there were two words written in beautiful script:

Happy Birthday

Severus entered the room shortly after and climbed into bed.

"You'll have time tomorrow to read, I think you should sleep," he said pulling the covers over his body.

Hermione threw her arms around the man hugging him as tight as her sore muscles would allow.

"Thank you so much, it's wonderful," she said sincerely.

Severus wrapped his arms around her tenderly, pressing his face into her hair. Hermione pulled away and gently touched the cover.

"Will…will you read it to me?" she asked quietly, holding the book as if it were her most prized possession.

Severus was frozen for a moment before his slender fingers extended out to her. Hermione offered him a brilliant smile as she handed him the book and watched as he reached to the nightstand for his glasses.

As Severus situated himself, Hermione curled up in bed, facing him, ready to latch onto every word he had to say. As soon as Severus began to read, Hermione could feel herself slipping, his voice was soothing to her ears, and calming to her nerves.

Severus had hardly read a paragraph before her deep even breaths alerted him to the fact she had fallen asleep.