Righto chaps, here's the next one! Hope you enjoy, if you don't i'm sorry! R&R ^_^ xx

Chapter 27

She turned to the sofa to find Draco sitting exactly where she had left him, "I'm sorry, I didn't find out why he blocked off the fireplace to you." Her tone flat and odd to her own ears and she realised he had noticed it. Then he saw her slightly shaky hand and then, she guessed, her slightly wet, red eyes.

"What happened?" He stood but made no attempt to move closer to her. "Is he ok?"

Her knees buckled yet she was surprised when she didn't feel the harsh cold floor beneath her as she collapsed. His arms wrapped around her pulling her over to the sofa before dropping her onto it, "What the fuck Granger?" he growled as he kneeled down in front of her. "Look at me! What went on in there?"

She shook her head as she let the tears fall from her eyes, "It hurts..." she put her hand over her mouth as she started to sob, trying her best to keep as much of her pain in as she could in front of Slytherin in front of her. "I can't...I can't...What have I done?"

"You're making no sense you idiot!" He grabbed hold of her hands, pulling them away from her face, before putting his hands on either side. "Look, Granger, I need to know what's going on with Severus, and as much as I appreciate your in a bit of a mess at the moment I have no patience or skill to calm you down quick enough to find out. Do you mind of we cut out the horrible middle man of me trying and jump straight to a bit of legilimens?"

She nodded, knowing it would be a lot easier to show him than to explain. Taking in one last shaky breath she gave him a small nod to show she was ready. He took out his wand and pointed it gently towards her forehead. Suddenly he was in and she had to force herself not to put her barriers up as he starting moving between her memories. She pushed the scene towards him, trying not to break eye contact as the heart retching scene replayed in front of her.

He let go, looking at her with such a stunned expression that she couldn't do anything other than look away.

"What the hell was that?"

"What wasn't clear, Malfoy? He's had enough of me." She whispered, still unable to look at the blond wizard in front of her.

"That's bullshit. You may not remember what happened last night, but I do. He was not angry with you when he came back. A little concerned that I might have taken advantage...but nothing directed at you. None of what you showed me makes any sense!"

"It makes perfect sense to me. He is tired of me and I cannot say I blame him. I literally forced myself on him and even the other night I refused to take no for an answer...any feelings he may have had for me is long worn away. Did you not see how he looked at me?"

He stood up and started pacing the room. "Oh for heaven's sake woman, the man is one of the greatest double agents in this war. Acting is one of his best skills...What I'm wondering is to why he's spooked enough to make him want you as far from him as possible..."

She had had enough of him; she wanted to be left alone to collapse in peace. "As much as I appreciate that you're trying to make me feel better about what has just happened... I would prefer if you just leave."

He stopped pacing and stared at her, "I'm not trying to cheer you up. That is what Potter, Weasel and all your other Gryffindor friends are for... I'm trying to work out what the fuck has got into my Godfather that he would block his fireplace to me and cut off contact with the woman he cares for..."

"He doesn't care about me anymore Malfoy! Just stop!" she screamed, "Enough! Enough of your assumptions!"

"You really believe that don't you?" He looked at her as though she had grown a second head. "I should just fucking record myself since we seem to always end up in the same argument...Of course he fucking cares for you. Severus doesn't just stop caring for someone. Surely, your beloved Potter is proof of that. The amount of time he saved your mates arse is beyond ridiculous... all because of his mother. Still a complete mystery to me, the man was friend zoned so hard that he's babysitting for that idiot."

She stood up and walked to the door, opening it up before looking back at him, "Maybe I'm just the exception to that rule."

He let out a deep sigh as he picked up his bag and walked towards her, "Look, I saw how Severus spoke to you in there and what it looked like...He's a convincing fucker. Please just think about it rationally for a little bit ok? That's all I ask." He walked out the door but stopped just out of it to turn back to her, "I'm gonna apologise temporarily for what he did to you in there until he comes back to his senses and tells you himself. You deserved better than that, whatever his reasoning was."

She gave him a small smile, "You know things are bad when Draco Malfoy is apologising to a mudblood."

"Don't get used to it." He smirked, "Irritating you is one of my favourite pass times... Goodnight Hermione."

"Good night Draco." She closed the door, before sliding down it and onto the floor, not having the energy to move anymore; mumbling a silencing spell before finally letting out a scream in anguish.

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His knuckles were bleeding, his voice was horse from the screaming and he was sure he had broken a couple of his fingers. Yet as he looked upon the destruction of his chambers, he was still unable to find the satisfaction that would allow him to calm down. He picked up the last of his glasses that he found on the desk, throwing that too at the floor with a loud smash.

He looked to his desk ready to smash anything else he found worth smashing when his eye caught sight of the red and green wrapped item sitting on the side. He had not noticed it when he had been grading essays; glancing over it, he noticed the small message on the card just to the side of it.

Merry Christmas Severus,

A small token of my appreciation for everything you have done.

Hermione

With slightly shaky hands, he opened the parcel, collapsing into the chair as it revealed black leather bound book with his initials imprinted elegantly in silver on the bottom right hand side. Opening it up he found it to be a potion-monitoring manual. They were rather expensive if he remembered correctly, and completely banned for students. Taking a quill, he wrote in the title the name of a simple potion, Pepper up. Immediately below it appeared the ingredients needed to brew it, next to that was the instructions on how to brew and then below all that explained the perfect colour, consistency and even smell of what it should be.

It could also be used as an identifier, in which you could recognise a potion by dropping a couple of drops onto the paper and the book would identify the potion and list the ingredients. Slightly redundant for the simpler potions for someone as apt as a Potion's Master, however for the more complex potions that could be dangerous for testing or even smelling, it could come in incredibly handy. He mused for a moment on how she would be able to get her hands on such an object, yet the moment that he thought of her he found himself shutting down again. Closing the book he placed it carefully onto the desk.

"I see you have punished your chambers as well as yourself tonight, Severus."

"Go away old man." He growled in response; he placed his wand on the table away from him no longer trusting his restraint. He had hoped that the headmaster would notice this but if he did he ignored it as Severus watched him walk closer to him, stopping only once he had reached the half destroyed desk.

"I also see you've found out that it is not only the classroom desks that are flame-retardant..." he said wistfully, "I remember the first time I tried to destroy one, you should of seen the anger I felt when it stayed completely pristine. You must have had to place a great amount of power to even char the right leg of it..."

"Albus...I said leave. I am not safe to be around at this moment in time."

"I have no doubt." Albus turned around and walked back to charred remains of Severus's armchair, and with a flick of his wand it was returned to its normal state before he hovered it over to his desk and placing it down before sitting in it. "That is why I am here. I agree this may be a very unsafe environment within your proximity at this moment it time; however that does not mean that you do not need someone."

Severus bowed his head, his jaw tight as he tried to keep himself together but he knew that the old man in front of him was able to see through every guise that he would put on.

"I had to destroy everything she felt for me, but I didn't realise that by doing it I would destroy myself completely doing it...I thought I could stay strong through it all knowing that I was doing it all to keep her safe. But I feel like I've damned us both to hell."

He pulled off his ring, sliding it over the desk to the man in front of him, "this...this is my hell." The ring glowed bright Yellow almost as if it was about to explode.

"A notification ring...An interesting concept. I don't remember all the colour indicators...But that colour...Overwhelming emotional pain."

"I did that." He croaked. "I made her feel that way. I said to myself that I would keep the ring on so that I could track her emotions and location if she was ever in danger... I didn't take into consideration how much it would haunt me."

"I can take the ring if you feel it's too much for you, Severus."

"No!" he snapped, placing the ring back on his finger as if he was frightened the headmaster would steal it. "This is all I'll have left of her; I need to be reminded of how much I've had to hurt her... to stop myself from doing it again... I will be the one to protect her...I did all this to keep her safe and I will honour that until my death." He was starting to waffle, but he could not stop himself.

"I'm guessing your forceful separation from Miss Granger went to plan."

"I had to make her hate me...She has little care about her own safety. She would not have allowed this if I had explained it was to keep her out of harm's way. This way there is no questions or fights."

"And does she hate you? I remember abhorrence being a completely different colour..." Albus replied, smiling sadly. "A beautiful shade of ocean blue if I remember correctly..."

"Once her hurt subsides, she will come to that emotion."

"I, for one hope you are wrong, my dear boy...For both your sakes."

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It had been week since her life had crumbled around her, and still she was finding it difficult to get out of bed. Everyday seemed like a new knife twisting in her stomach, seeing him at the head table and in class, yet it hurt not to see him as well. She had started putting minor glamour spells on her face and body to hide the gaunt and haunted look and now it was becoming ridiculous with the amount of spells that she was using to keep up the appearance of being fine. As much as she was breaking down, she had learned from the last time that to show it publicly would cause her even more trouble than she would like. Yet she knew it was only a matter of time before Harry and Ron would start to notice. She needed something to help her with this constant pain before people started to catch on.

"Three...Two...One" She stopped stirring and stepped back to admire her work, glancing at her notes on the table she was able to confirm pretty quickly that she had made a successful batch. Giving herself a mental pat on the back she went to work on filling the six empty bottles that she had place on the table and clearing away the mess. Working out her calculations she guessed she had enough for twelve days, half a bottle a day should just about do it, she hoped. The potion itself was more complex that she had hoped; brewed over a length of three days so the more she made the longer she would have before she would have to start brewing again. She placed them in her cupboard before taking one, eying it nervously. It had seemed like such a good idea when she had found the book in the restricted section. She couldn't afford to break down anymore, they were edging closer to a battle against Voldemort and she was sitting here unable to do anything more the stare listlessly out of window and cry. It was time to buck up, Harry and Ron needed her.

"Fuck it." She downed half the bottle, grimacing at the horrible sour taste. Tightening the lid she placed it with the rest of the bottles and locked the cupboard before sitting down and waiting for the effects to hit. At first there was nothing, and she wondered for a moment what she may have done wrong, then she felt the pain creep up from her stomach to chest. She wanted to scream but there was no noise, just the sound of her blood rushing around her ears. Collapsing onto the floor, the pain pulsated around her chest as small spikes of it made its way up her neck and then finally into her head. The pain was almost equal to her experience with the Crucio curse, yet at least she had been able to scream when she had been with Dolahov.

Thankfully the pain stared to ebb away as quick as it started, and she was left catching her breath on the cold stone floor.

She was still panting when she heard the loud banging begin on her door and for a moment she wondered if she should just ignore it.

"Sounds important..." she wheezed as the banging continued to get louder and harder, pushing herself up until she was back on her feet. The door exploded before she was able to take a step closer, her normal instinct to duck seemed oddly quiet as she watched the bits of wood fly into her chambers as well as a rather angry looking Potion Master.

Well this is definitely new...She felt no panic, no pains or the urge to cry as she saw the man she was sure she loved run towards her. Love? How ironic that it took me to use a potion to strip me of emotions to identify exactly what I felt. She would have laughed if she felt the humour in it.

"What's going on? Are you ok?" He grabbed her arm looking her over from head to foot, the look of confusion etched onto his usual cold features, as well as something else. Fear? How odd. She mused. The object of all her pain and earlier happiness stood in front of her, his hands on her body, yet there was nothing. She pulled her arm gently from him and stepped back.

"I'm fine professor."

She watched the surprise on his face as he registered her calmness. He opened his mouth to reply and then his eyes scanned her again before narrowing in suspicion. "You weren't...there was something wrong. You were in pain."

"But I am not now, sir. Thank you for the concern but I think it is best that you leave." Her tone was slightly flat as she tried to consider how she should be speaking to him. She watched as his glance went from her to his right hand then back at her with almost as much confusion as he had had when he first blasted in.

"What have you done?" He whispered.

Her mind was a buzz of questions that she wanted answered herself, but that was it; there was no emotions, happiness, fear, hurt, anger, none of them. Just simple neutral logic. She would consider it a relief if she could have felt such a thing. Instead she knew that it was in her best interest to keep the man in front of her as far from her as possible. If he was to find out exactly what she had produced, she was sure he would not let her continue.

"I do not understand what you mean, Sir."

"I know! I know what you've been feeling!" He pulled the ring off his fingers, showing it to her, "And this told me you were just in extreme physical pain."

She had forgotten about his little connection with her, I should have taken that into consideration before I had that first drink... "And now?"

"Nothing; it's always shown something. Some sort of emotion that you were feeling… now, It's like its dead..." he mumbled, still staring at her.

Perfect.

"Sounds like your ring is defective..." She pulled her bracelet off and placed it in his hand. "I apologise for the inconvenience, Professor. I hope this stops anymore miscommunication. I can imagine it's a dreadful waste of your time, as you have explained to me previously." She moved away from him, yet was still able to notice his sudden wince at her words and walked over to her school bag, picking it up. Using the time that the man seemed stunned in his place to escape, "I'm sorry I have to leave, I have a lesson in ten minutes..."

With a wave of her wand, she fixed her door before opening it up, "Please feel free to leave when you are ready." And with that she slipped out, breaking out in a run as quick as she could before he could come back to his senses.

She didn't stop until she got to her transfiguration class, leaning against the wall to get her breath back. She knew that she was probably under extreme suspicion with him now, but as she waited for herself to find some sort of panic about it she found herself unconcerned. She had work to do, exams to study for and friends to protect. That was her mission and she was sticking to it.

"Granger."

She looked up to find Draco in front of her, looking around before turning back to her.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Thank you for asking." Again her voice was flat, almost monotone. A side effect of the potion perhaps? She decided to research it more that evening, anything that could cause her unwanted attention needed to be dealt with quickly.

He eyed her sceptically "You don't sound it."

"I'm going to work on that. But in all honesty, I am truly fine." She put a smile on her face, hoping to reassure the Slytherin enough to stop any concerns.

He nodded but she could see he didn't really buy her words, but again, she was not too worried. In fact she hadn't been this carefree since she was a child. She felt...numb. She barely had any worries and it seemed to help her focus on what needed to be done without the distraction for emotional trauma.

Why on earth did I not create this magical remedy earlier? It could have saved me from so much heartache.

"Did you find out why Professor Snape blocked his fireplace to you?"

He raised his eyebrow to her, "Professor Snape? You're back to calling him that?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "That's what he wanted. I am just respecting his wishes."

"I'm sorry, what?...Respecting his wishes? You make it sound like he's asked you to take a few books to the library... What is going on with-"

"Malfoy, any reason why you're bothering our Hermione?"

She watched as the man in front of her froze and then within a split second go from the concerned friend that she now considered him to be to the arrogant pureblood that had him hated by all of her friends.

"Your Hermione? ...The two of yours huh?" He turned at Harry and Ron, "Sounds like the Gryffindor house is a lot kinkier than I gave you guys' credit for. Then again, Potter, I suppose the only way you would get a threesome is if it's with a Weasel and a mudblood, you are one ugly bastard." His wand was already out, pointed between the two of them, Harry and Ron following suit.

"I'm going to blast your fucking balls right off your-"

Sighing, she pulled out hers and with a quick flick she had all three of their wands in her hand. It would not do to have a battle in the corridor; the scene could attract unwanted visitors. "The testosterone between the three of you is enough to give anyone a bloody headache." She drawled her tone still odd to her ears; "I'm not having you blast each other away in the damn corridor like children. You're grown men for fuck sake, start acting like it." She threw their wands onto the floor before turning around and walking to the classroom door. "I have not got time to clear your mess; I have exams to study for."

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A whole week he had allowed this shambles continue. A whole damn week. He glared at the trio on the other side of the classroom, ignoring the prattle from old lady McGonagall in front of them.

Those are to be the saviours in this war? An arrogant spectacled cunt, a ginger buffoon and a witch who's gone bonkers over his Godfather…Sweet mother of Merlin we're all gonna die.

He had respected Severus's wishes to be left alone, and had kept an eye on Severus's little Gryffindor instead. He had been impressed with her decorum so far and hidden her pain pretty well from her dunderheads she claimed as friends. Yet today something was off, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to find out what it was.

"Mr Malfoy, am I boring you?" The thick Scottish accent cut through his thought process, shaking his head he looked up, giving the elderly witch the smoothest grin he could.

"No! ...Sorry Professor... I'll be better."

Better at hiding it anyway.

And so he did, spending the whole lesson pretending to be intently interested in the wonders of transfiguration yet all the while stealing glances at Hermione on the other side of the classroom. She had not put her hand up the whole lesson, her head down; writing what he guessed was notes about the lesson. He didn't know what infuriated him more, the insult that she thought he wouldn't notice something amiss or the fact that Potter and Weasley actually hadn't. This was more stupid than the glamours that she had been using like make up.

Morons.

He was going to have to deal with this on his own, his only allies were either slowly going crazy or, at this moment in time still, to his guess, was still morning his stupid decision to cut off contact with the woman he clearly had feelings with.

Either way it was time for some drastic action. As the lesson finished he packed up his bag and stormed out, not stopping until he slammed open the door to Severus's classroom.

"Is there a particular reason why you would want to join a first year potion class, Mr Malfoy?"

"Sorry Professor, I thought that your class had finished…I'll wait outside."

"See that you do. Two points from Slytherin for your assumption." Was the only reply he received as he closed the door behind him. Bastard, trying to save his arse and that is what I get. He sneered to himself as he waited, slowly getting angrier and angrier as time went by. By the time that the first years started to exit out the room, they looked at him with the same terrified expression that they gave the Potion Master.

"You idiot's don't even know what you should be afraid of. Snivelling little wankers." He muttered.

"That's enough, Malfoy. In. Now." Came the growl from behind him.

Draco turned around, glaring at him but kept silent as he walked past him and into the classroom, hearing the door slam shut behind him.

"Want to tell me what this is all about, Draco?"

He gaped for a second as Severus strode past him, completely stunned as to why he had to even ask. "You are fucking kidding me right?"

The wizard in front him raised an eyebrow at what Draco guessed was his pretty loud response, but he no longer cared. I have given this fucker enough time.

"Where would you like me to start? Should it be the lack of warning over you blocking your fireplace to me? That you have been avoiding me for over a fucking week? Or, maybe that there's a crazy Gryffindor wondering around the castle, because you dropped her like a sack of shit?"

"I needed space; I would not have been good company for you. And the issue with Miss Granger is none of your damn business." Severus growled.

"Her name is Hermione, and don't you dare fucking give me that shit! We have gone through too damn much together for you to block me out.

"Calling her by her first name now, Draco?"

Draco sneered, "Jealous, Severus? I hear she's up for grabs now. Since whatever happened between you and Hermione is over, maybe I should make her my business." He hadn't come here to provoke the man in front of him, but he found the more walls the wizard was putting up between them the more Draco wanted to make the man break. Yet the only noticeable change was the colour of Severus's knuckles as he gripped the table that he leaned on.

Time to bring out my bad boy card…

"Then again, I think she's been put off by Slytherins, apparently we are quite big cunts when it comes to consideration of feelings… "He said wistfully, placing a finger on his lips in a mock of contemplation. "Maybe now she will let Potter fuck her, if I remember correctly, when I had to pretend to be her that he was literally begging to get into her knickers. Hell, from the way you left her I wouldn't be surprised if she was sucking his cock right now."

He wasn't surprised when he was thrown across the room as he knew he had gone too far, before he could get up a hand grabbed his tie, pulling him up and onto one of the desks.

"At fucking last! A bit of emotion." He laughed, panting as he grinned at the furious professor above him. "Are you going to talk to me now, dear Godfather?"

"I would prefer to beat the shit out of you instead."

"I'll allow it. But only if you tell me what the hell is going on."

"Allow it? Boy, if I want to beat you senseless I do not need to ask for fucking permission… Especially off of you."

Even as he said it Severus had already let him go and was striding toward his office, he followed behind him without any hesitation, shutting the door to the office behind him.

I'd call that a success, he didn't kill me and he may actually talk to me…all thanks to Potter's cock.

"What do you know?"

Draco smirked, throwing himself down in the chair opposite Severus's desk. "More than you think. I was in her chambers when she came back from your little chat with her."He watched as Severus's body stiffened slightly at his response, it was still a wonder as to why he considered him a threat. "Merlin, you're easy to read when it comes to her. Nothing happened! She invited me in to use her fireplace since you had so kindly blocked access to mine…then I wimped out and she went to investigate for me instead. She came back a wreck, you know."

"I know."

"She allowed me to legilimens' her."

Severus's eyes pierced his, and for a moment he thought that he was going to be blasted out of his seat. "She did what?" His voice barely a whisper, dangerously low and he wondered for a split second if he would be given enough time to explain before he was cursed into next week.

"When I mean wreck, Severus, I mean a fucking wreck. I don't have the skill to calm down hysterical women, so I asked if I could just look for myself. I didn't like what I saw, and I'd call you a cunt if I knew what you said was true. However, unlike her I've seen that nastiness before…more than enough times at Death Eater meetings. So I am going to ask you ever so nicely, before I lose all respect for you, what the fuck is going on?"

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Hermione took a big swig of her drink, finishing it within a couple of long gulps. "Whoa, Hermione! Are you thirsty or something?" Ron laughed as he sat down next to her, "That's the second butterbeer you've had in the last fifteen minutes." Her eyebrows knitted together as she stared at the glass.

Still no taste…how odd.

"Do you think there is anything wrong with the butterbeers at the moment? Funny taste?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders as he took another sip of his, "tastes the same to me Herms. Why? You think there's something dodgy with yours?"

She pondered the issue for a moment, "dunno… it tastes really watered down." She grabbed Ron's by the side of her, taking a sip as she ignored his loud protest. "Yours is the same."

"Hermione, there is nothing wrong with my Butterbeer. Maybe your taste buds are all messed up. Give it back woman!" Ron moaned, grabbing his pint away from her.

"-I think her heads messed up, we've barely seen your face rise from one book or another in about three days." Harry snickered, "it's probably a shock to your system that you're even taking a break from revision. Thank god for Dumbledore and his mercy of Hogsmaid trips!"

"It's not just revision. I've been looking up some new spells that I hope will help protect us. Our shield spells are almost useless against dark art magic, and since that seems to be Voldemort's favourite type I think we need to read up on other sorts of protection." Quickly getting out a notepad and pen she quickly scribbled something down before slipping it back in to her pocket.

Harry's eyes lit up at her explanation, "have you found anything that we could use?" leaning forward towards her.

"At this moment not much in terms of spells, however, there are potions that help cure ailments from dark curses. I was researching a way of combining those sorts of potions with a type of protection charm in a way that would not completely stop the dark magic but cut down the amount of damage it does to its victim...there's one I'm testing at the moment... but it is still in the theoretical stages and-"

A loud bang sounded outside the pub making most of the people within it duck for cover, the door burst open and a young witch came running in screaming, shutting the door behind her before falling down, crawling on her hands and knees.

"Help me please! Death Eaters! Death Eaters!" Harry and Ron looked at each other before jumping up; Hermione grabbed hold of both their sleeves holding them both in place.

"Don't even think about going out there. We are completely defenceless."

"Hermione! There are people out there that are getting hurt and you want us to cower in here?" Harry snapped, pulling his sleeve out of her grasp. The atmosphere in the room turned to panic as people around her started to flee, some simply appariting out without hesitation whilst others searched around looking for love ones.

It's times like this where an early Apparition licence would have came in handy...

Without hesitating she shot a Full Body-Bind Curse at Harry as he turned to run, as he fell to the ground she turned her want to Ron.

"Hermione, what the bloody hell are you doing?" he screeched, crouching down next to Harry's bound body.

"It's amazing how quick your reflexes are when you're not restrained down by emotional and social insecurities..." She muttered to herself, realising her current situation she shook off her fascination with her new findings and looked back at Ron. "Harry will be killed or captured if he goes out there, we can't afford to lose him and I won't have the chaos that happened last time we faced them alone." She knelt down next to Ron and looked at him, noticing the panic and fear in his eyes. "We need to get him out of here. If I remember correctly there's a back way out of the pub; go open the door, and I'll levitate him out."

Ron looked at her for a moment, but when a bang came from the door he jumped. She turned casting a quick locking spell before turning back to him. "Ron. We haven't got much time." Her calm, almost hollow voice making him give her one last odd look as he jumped up and ran towards the bar as she levitated Harry up, following closely behind. She levitated him over the bar and through the door as Ron opened it up, revealing a long hallway. Hermione climbed over the bar and followed the floating body of her friend through the back door. Shutting it just in time as she heard the front door that she had locked explode, she hurried forward to find Ron standing by the back exit.

Then she heard it. The dark cackle on the other side of the door, she had heard it only a couple of times before, yet as she waited for the chill to creep up her spine she felt nothing.

"Who's scurrying away? Like little insects I can hear your ickle bitty scatterings!" she laughed, her silhouette now visible through the misted window in the door. Hermione knew there was no way of keeping her out but she gently dropped Harry on the floor and threw a locking spell on the door just to give herself a couple of seconds of thinking time.

Opening the cupboard next to her she pushed Harry inside and grabbed hold of Ron and threw him in after, yet as she tried to close the door Ron's hand shot out and stopped her.

"What are you doing?!" he whispered in his high pitched panic, "Get in!"

"She knows someone's here. If she doesn't find anyone she is going to look. Now get in before I stun you too." She kicked his foot out of the gap in the door and batted away his hand before shutting the door, "Stay in there until you know it safe." She whispered before pushing off the door and standing as far away from it as possible. Just to be on the safe side she whispered a camouflaging spell on the door. It was hidden from view but if anyone knew of the cupboard door, it was still easily found through touch.

Looking between the two doors, the one behind her and the one in front she wondered which one would open first. It took a mere second for the answer to come as Bellatrix blasted the door in front of her wide open.

"Well...what a lovely surprise! Good Afternoon mudblood. Where's your friends?"

"They were clever enough to get to one of the portkeys that Dumbledore hid in the pub. Unfortunately I was a tad slow."The lie came so easy when there was no distraction from fear. Port keys would have actually been a good idea on Dumbledore's part...

She decided to make a mental note to recommend the idea to the headmaster if she returned.

If I return...

"They just left you? Now, I don't believe that, not the honourable potty!"

Hermione shrugged, "I have my own portkey. It just didn't work."

"Oh..." Bellatrix replied, pouting her bottom lip, "what a pity for you...Don't worry mudblood, you can join our little party instead! But first, we need to warm you up. Crucio!"