Sorry about the long delay, not only was I busy, I had insane writer's block.

I cured it by reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. My heart didn't need it, but my writing did!

…

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE – TIMES LIKE THIS

November came with frigid air and a dusting of snow. It also came with a summons from the Dark Lord. It was midday about, just at the tail end of lunch, when Severus' arm seared. He glanced at Hermione who joined him in a rapid march out of the Great Hall and out of the main doors to the grounds.

"Where are we going?"

"You need to come with me this time; I will transfigure your robes once we get there."

Hermione swallowed but did not respond as Severus wrapped one of his arms around hers and took them away from Hogwarts with a loud crack. They appeared at the edge of the familiar Malfoy Manor gardens, where Severus transfigured both of their robes, his to his regular Death Eater ones, and hers into a similar set of loose, black robes with a hood she could pull up over her face. They walked up the path to the door in anticipatory silence, both of their shoulder muscles tense. Inside were so many Death Eaters, Hermione felt fear rise up and wrap its talons around her throat. Many wore their hoods, a few had their faces entirely exposed, and much fewer wore masks under their hoods. Hermione was surprised to see Draco in the corner and realized he hadn't gone back to Hogwarts like she had expected. She wanted to ask questions but it was not the time or place. Instead, she followed Severus to the darkest corner of the room where she could hide nicely in the shadows and waited.

The Dark Lord swept into the room like curling smoke and Hermione was stunned to watch as just his presence made the room fall silent in a wave, each figure turned to face him where he stood momentarily on a platform and then sat down. He looked furious. Hermione shivered at the glare he distributed around the room. Nothing about tonight would go well. She knew it.

"Not only—" Voldemort paused dramatically in a rather Severus like way, "did Harry escaped Hogwarts without my notice, he has now broken into Gringotts and stolen from dear Bellatrix." He stood up suddenly, his robes flying out and curling back around him. "I HAVE THREE OF YOU STATIONED AT HOGWARTS AND NONE OF YOU ALERTED ME!" Voldemort roared and many in the room flinched, including Hermione.

Suddenly very afraid for Severus' safety, Hermione stepped closer to him, standing almost in front of him, their arms knocking. She was surprised that with almost no movement from their cloaks, he slipped a hand towards her and squeezed her wrist. She wasn't sure if it was a confirmation of her fear or if it was supposed to be comforting. She supposed it was both. Voldemort summoned the Carrows forward and admonished them for being so lacking, as his eyes and ears, they seemed both deaf and blind. The Dark Lord crucioed Alecto and while his sister writhed and screamed, Amycus tried to buy himself freedom from the curse by telling the Dark Lord about the resurrected student army but that only cost him more pain since Severus had told Voldemort ages ago.

After the Carrows had been removed from the floor at his feet, the Dark Lord's deadly eyes turned towards the dark corner where Severus and Hermione were standing. He beckoned. Severus began to walk forward but the Dark Lord stopped him and told Severus to bring his bitch too. Severus made his way up to the front of the room at a steady pace; Hermione trailing after him with her head down, glad the hood hid her face. Hermione stopped when Severus' shoes in front of her stopped, and silently prayed Severus wouldn't get tortured. She didn't know if she could see that.

"Severus, my dearest servant, tell me, why did you not alert me to Harry's escape?"

"I was not aware of it myself until sometime later. I no longer teach the boy."

"Are you not headmaster? Did you not miss him at meals? Did you not feel him slip past your wards?"

"I was not paying attention, my lord."

"No!" Voldemort seethed, "you were not! I have thought a long time about how to punish you, Severus, but see, unlike you, I am perceptive." He punctuated the last three words with venom. It gave Hermione chills.

Severus bowed his head. "I deserve whatever punishment you have chosen for me, my lord, I am ready."

"Are you?" Voldemort hissed, cocking his head and standing up again. "I don't think you heard me when I said I was perceptive."

"My lord?"

"My lord?" Voldemort mocked. "Crucio!"

"No!"

Hermione heard the words at the same time and looked up to see the reddish light coming right for her. It was like nothing she had ever experienced. Her head was thrown back and her neck bent at an unnatural angle, her bones felt like fire, like poison was burning them through, her insides and outsides were switching places and her insides were molten, spilling all over the floor, her ribs were shattering away from her sternum, her lungs were opened so she could not breathe, her legs spasmed and jerked, their muscles felt as if they were being cut cord by cord, her head had been smashed like a watermelon, her eyes exploding and her brains splattering the floor, the podium, Severus' robes, Voldemort's robes, fingers were being bent and curled backwards until her arms were rolled up by her ears in a coil, but death wouldn't come to her, it was so far away, standing somewhere near her, laughing, the only relief she could find were cool hands pressing against her forearms (how, when her arms weren't even arms anymore?), and a familiar voice that would have made her insides churn if her insides weren't her outsides and currently being stepped in.

Suddenly it stopped.

Echoes of the pain made her flail and twitch. The sensation of cool hands grew stronger. There were loud cracks like gunshots. Wait. No, that didn't make sense. Ap- Appearing? Apparton? Partition? Ah. Apparition. That was it.

"I will kill you myself Hermione Granger if you don't open your eyes right now."

Hermione liked the way the last two words were punctuated. Like their own sentences. She liked the voice better. She bet it belonged to the cool hands that were taking the fever from her face. Oh. Oh! She knew that voice. She knew the face it belonged to also. She liked that face. Severus. She forced her eyes open. It made her eyelids ache and burn; it felt like someone was slowly pulling her eyes from the sockets. There he was.

"Severus."

"You foolish girl." She could tell he didn't mean it.

"Where are we?"

"Malfoy Manor still."

"Is he-?" Her voice rose in panic.

"No, they are all gone. Just us and the Malfoys."

"It hurts."

"I can take you to Hogwarts or help you here."

"Home."

Severus assumed she meant Hogwarts so he hoisted her up into his arms, to the chorus of much groaning and a few whimpers, and carried her across the large room to the fire place where he dropped in floo powder and they spiraled away to his rooms. He carried her to the bed where she melted out, unconscious. He swore quietly and hurried to gather potions. He helped her swallow them and decided he would let her sleep. In the morning, Hermione's eyes peeled open and she groaned. The sound was enough to wake him. "How do you feel?"

"Like the Hogwarts Express ran over me several times."

"I think one of those potion baths would be a good idea."

"Join me?"

"I don't think-"

"Please?"

He sighed but did not answer. Instead he went and ran the bath, pouring some of the potion in. Severus stared at the running water a long time before he silently waved his wand at the tub to expand. He went back out to the room and helped Hermione remove her clothes before guiding her to the bathtub. Hermione glanced around as they walked in. "Your bathroom is very nice."

"It's the same as yours." He grumbled as he lowered her into the water.

"But yours is…"

He didn't know what she meant and she didn't explain. He dimmed the lighting before he undressed via magic and slid into the water across from her. When Severus finally looked up, she was pouting. "What?"

"You undressed with magic."

"And?"

"I wanted to see you undress." She mumbled.

Severus huffed. "Another time."

It really only occurred to him at this moment that this was the first time they had been around the other naked. His desire for her thrummed but he told himself as he told her, another time. Even if they were willingly naked together, her body would be unequipped to handle any of those activities and he had a bizarre feeling of concern for her. So instead, they sat in the tub together, mostly in silence, until Hermione yawned hugely and Severus insisted she go back to bed. It bothered him that she didn't seem to be aware she was missing classes to sleep. The Dark Lord had hit her hard. In the evening, Hermione insisted she was well enough to go down for dinner.

SHSHSH

Severus stared at the back of Hermione's head in the darkness. What had been the purpose of the Dark Lord torturing her instead of him? The Dark Lord had certainly been under the impression that it would hurt Severus more than if Severus himself had been tortured. In some ways it was worse, he wasn't really concerned about himself but Hermione begin tortured was something else entirely. It hurt him differently, in a way he wasn't used to. He didn't like that; he didn't know what it meant. He put a protective arm over Hermione's side. Maybe the Dark Lord was more perceptive than he.