A/N: Warning: This chapter earned its rating. It has blood, pain and nearly a character death.
That said, I would like to point your attention to my newest toy - the livejournal I created to keep you informed about the rather inconsequential and slightly mad things that go on in my head. You can access it via my profile page, or simply search for lioness-kayly. Feel free to comment or add me to your friends list - I'd be honoured, really!
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Forget Me Not
Days rushed past them while Harry trained, planned and still managed somehow to study for the approaching NEWTs. In all its madness, his life as member of the Order, Boy Who Lived and friend to the Master Spy and the Slytherin prince had turned into something like routine.
The Order had mellowed into some sort of silent acceptance of Hermione's and Severus' relationship (and it was just downright irritating how difficult it still was to use that name naturally), aided by the fact that their behaviour around them hadn't changed the least. Mrs Weasley alone was still watching them like a hawk, but at least she managed to great Hermione courteously these days without making her disapproval outright clear.
Though Harry worried about the final outcome of their plan and was more than once plagued by nightmares, he also found himself wondering about his future, that time he had tried to ignore for more than a year. He wasn't so sure about the auror programme any longer, but Quidditch wasn't an option to him, not after all the things he had learned and witnessed.
On the whole, it was just too easy to forget how dangerous life was for them all, and how fragile. But the Thursday before Aberforth Dumbledore's ball reminded him of both facts in a way he would never again forget.
The evening started like any other these days. When eight o'clock arrived, Hermione was still absent, as were Hestia Jones, Flitwick and Ron, but Severus explained that she had been called and that it would be fruitless to wait for her.
So Dumbledore opened the meeting with a few words concerning the recruiting of Outer Circle members, and then Remus started to report on the recent developments among the werewolves.
He was half way through an explanation of their clan structure when Severus suddenly hissed in pain and clutched his left arm. For a single moment of shock, Harry believed that it had been the Dark Mark, but then he saw a ring on Severus's left hand, glowing a bright, flaming red.
For one second, Severus went completely still. "Hermione," He whispered tonelessly, and then he bolted from his chair, overturning it, and raced over to the magical tapestries. "Minerva, follow me! Draco, the emergency bag in my room!" He shouted without looking back, and to the left of Harry, Draco snapped into action as well.
He didn't look back to the as he stepped through the tapestry, but there was no question that most of them would follow him. Minerva left the room second, with Dumbledore and Remus right on her heels. Draco came next, clutching a huge back of dark leather against his chest as if it could give him some sort of hold on reality. His eyes searched Harry's, who nodded and went next.
They found themselves in a dusty dungeon storage room, a place completely unknown to Harry. A trail of footsteps led them out of the room, into a long corridor that Harry vaguely remembered from his explorations with the invisibility cloak, the only difference being that it had always ended with a solid stone wall. Now, however, there was an opening in said wall through which he could see Remus disappear.
He chanced a look behind him and saw Tonks and Bill Weasley entering the storage room. We must look completely ridiculous, He thought, but then his worry flared again and he quickened his steps to not lose Draco.
"Any idea what happened?" He whispered, casting a Lumos to illumine their way. He could see Draco shaking his head with a jerky motion that expressed more fear than he hada ever seen from the Slytherin.
"It must be a real emergency if he reacts like that. But I only know that they were designing a ring to communicate a few weeks back. It seems to have worked."
The trip through the damp, dark underground tunnel seemed to take an eternity, but when they emerged into the all too bright light of an early evening, Harry could see Severus still rushing towards the edge of the grounds, McGonagall and Dumbledore directly behind him.
Suddenly, he stopped, and fell to his knees besides an old, gnarled tree.
Draco broke into a run, all Slytherin dignity forgotten for once, and Harry sped up besides him. He had nearly reached the spot where their Spymaster suddenly had abandoned all movement when he finally saw what lay on the ground, and stopped so abruptly that Tonks nearly barrelled into him.
A twitching bundle of skin, and blood, and torn cloth. Hermione, and now he knew why Severus had reacted so calmly to her appearance when Remus had discovered her that night so very long ago. This was much, much worse.
"Hermione," Severus said, carefully reaching out and softly stroking her hair back from her bloodied face. "What happened? Are they after you?"
Harry wanted to tell him that it was impossible she could answer, that she was more dead than alive, for goodness sake, but under Severus's soft touches her eyes slowly, painfully opened.
"They faked it," She moaned, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. "The goddamn bastards dared to fake the Dark Lord's call! I will destroy every single one of them…"
"Hermione, I need to know what happened," Severus's voice was urgent, his whole being fixed on her body that convulsed with pain. "Can you tell me?"
Hermione opened her lips as if to speak, but only blood escaped her mouth, and it was obvious to all those gathered around her that she had no strength left. Suddenly, her left arm shot upwards, grabbed Severus's neck and drew him down towards her.
Although nothing visible happened, it seemed to all of them that somehow she pushed something towards the Spymaster. He was hurled backwards to the ground and she closed her eyes with a last ghost of a moan.
For one moment, Severus lay entirely still, his face showing nothing but shock and excruciating pain, and Harry understood that with her last strength, Hermione had pushed her memories into him, memories of fear and torture, condensed into one single, terrible second.
Then Severus's eyes snapped open. They looked haunted and lost, the normal burning black replaced by a hollow void, but he functioned as fast and efficient as Harry had ever seen him.
"Minerva," He shouted, not caring that she was crouching directly besides him. "She has a concussion, take care of that. I will deal with her pierced lung. Her liver might be ruptured, too."
He stretched out a hand, and without a word passing between them, Draco handed him his bag. Severus ripped it open and selected potions with hands as calm and quick as if this was nothing but a demonstration in class. Harry looked down at his own hands and found them trembling violently.
Professor McGonagall had fallen on her knees besides Hermione's now still head. Her lips were moving as she whispered enchantments, and her wand was fulfilling intricate motions Harry had never seen before. But he had been unconscious nearly every time he entered the infirmary, so his experience about medical magic was restricted to being treated.
"Only stabilize her," Severus ordered as he poured a potion into Hermione's slack, bloodied mouth, working her throat to assist her in swallowing. "We'll have to get her to a safe place as soon as possible."
His voice was calm and controlled, but Harry could now see a terrible anger burning in his eyes. The Spymaster was as near to the explosion point as Harry had ever seen him, and only his perfect control kept him healing and organizing. For the first time, Harry understood what Severus had told him about discipline, back during their Occlumency lessons in year five. He himself would have panicked. Gods, he was experiencing the panic even now. And he was not in love with the woman dying in front of their eyes.
"Was she raped? Any internal bleeding we should take care of?" McGonagall asked, only a slight quiver to her voice showing her distress.
"No," Severus answered, his tone as flat as a machine's. As flat as Hermione's, Harry realized, when she had killed those Death Eaters in the Forbidden Forest and threatened Ron with his death. "Lucius wasn't with them, and they still respect that she is his possession. But they did nearly everything else one could possibly do with a human body," He added in a half whisper.
Harry felt totally helpless as he watched the two Professors fight for the life of his best friend.
"Let's take a look around," He finally whispered to Draco, who was staring at Hermione's body with burning eyes. "We should make sure that no one is near to see her like this. And someone should tell the rest of the Order what has happened."
As if torn from a dream, Draco's head snapped up. Then he nodded unsteadily. "Let's go," He whispered.
"I will tell the others," Tonks, who was standing by Harry's side, offered. Her eyes were full of tears.
"No need to," Severus interrupted from his place by Hermione's side. "She's stabilized. We will take her there directly. Remus, walk before us and send every student you meet to the dorms. I'll carry her."
His voice was still flat and without the slightest emotion, but when he took her up in his arms and cradled her softly against his chest, it was with the utmost tenderness and care. She moaned softly when he moved her, but she didn't open her eyes.
"You must stay awake, Hermione, do you hear me?" He whispered, and though Harry thought it impossible, he was answered by a tiny, tiny nod and a slight flutter of her eyelids.
Severus's steps were long and steady as he carried her through the grounds to the nearest castle wall. Detaching one hand from Hermione's body, he tapped his wand against the grey stone and suddenly there was the opening in Hogwart's foundation wall again through which they had stepped before.
Severus didn't turn around to them as he hurried through the secret passage, opened the other end of the secret tunnel and stepped into the dusty storage room.
"Open the passageway," Severus ordered and Dumbledore hastily stepped forward, murmuring his password and fixing his eyes and hands on the correct spots. Severus moved on as soon as the golden glow activated the tapestry.
They were greeted with shocked outcries and gasps from the rest of the Order and the sight of a bed, transfigured by Molly Weasley, who hadn't had seven children for nothing. Although tears were streaming down her face when she got sight of Hermione, her voice was steady as she asked for instruction.
"Water," Severus told her as he softly placed Hermione on the bed and immediately applied a diagnosis spell.
What he saw didn't seem to relieve him in the least, and Harry could hear a half muffled moaning from Mrs Weasley.
"Let me take care of the broken arm, Severus," She offered. "I healed those more than once."
And again they set to the hasty work of saving Hermione's life, Professor McGonagall with thin lips and narrowed eyes, Severus with the steady, efficient movements of a robot and Mrs Weasley while muttering "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, my dear," over and over again.
Draco stood to the foot of the bed, holding the bag open as if his life depended on it, his hands trembling slightly and his face a ghostly white.
"She is stabilized," Severus finally announced with a voice of frozen tears. "I need more potions from my office to help her heal internally. Take care of her, Minerva."
With a sigh he hadn't known was coming, Harry leaned against the wall, sliding downwards as his suddenly weak legs gave way. He watched Draco carefully setting the emergency bag on the ground and joining him a minute later, his hands trembling violently now that his task was finished.
"I thought she would die," He whispered, and Harry, unable to open his mouth and form words, nodded silently. "I thought no one could survive such blood loss."
"It's a good thing Severus knows so much about healing," Remus breathed. He was standing to their left, by one of the fireplaces, and it looked as if only sheer will kept him upright. "I never knew¥…"
A sudden, ghastly sound interrupted him, and it took Harry a moment to realize that it was Hermione's breathing, who had changed from a shallow effort, barely noticeable, to a rasping, choking sound, coming in sobs, unbearable in its painful intensity.
"What is happening with her?" Tonks asked, standing helpless by her side. "I thought she was safe now!"
Hermione's limbs wakened to sudden, jerky movements, her whole body convulsing as if invisible fists were punching her. Harry had seen her like this before, on the night when he had found out, and he had hoped that he would never have to see her like this again.
The choking sound increased, pulsing with her wild movements, until Harry had to push his hands violently against the floor to stop them from covering his ears.
"She's having a seizure," McGonagall cried out, trying to stop her flailing arms and legs. "Remus, help me."
Together they tried to keep her body from thrashing and the tender wounds from breaking open again, but Hermione's body convulsed and she pushed them away with inhuman strength. Suddenly, her back arched up impossibly high, her face lost the last colour and she gave one last, sobbing gasp. Then, she went deadly still.
"We're losing her," McGonagall cried out, and this time, there was real panic in her voice.
One moment Severus had been in his office, collecting potions and bandages, the next second he was by Hermione's side, raising one eye lid and checking her pulse. Even from several feet away, Harry could see with terribly clarity that she wasn't breathing, her skin like marble annd her hair like dead, dry twigs.
"She's fading," He said, and then his anger suddenly seemed to explode. "Hermione," He shouted, his voice sharp like a knife. "Get away from her, Minerva! Hermione, the Gods damn you!"
"Severus, there is nothing we can do," Professor McGonagall whispered, trying to reach out for him, but he shrugged her hand away without even looking at her, all of him concentrated on the lifeless body of his master spy. "Away, I said!"
And he slapped Hermione in the face, hard. Tonks cried out, and Remus rushed over, but a movement of Severus's hand sent him flying backwards and collapsing against the far wall of the room.
He slapped her again. "Get a grip on yourself, woman," He shouted, no, howled at her, his anger as terrible as a sudden storm building over the sea. "This is just a scratch! Are you such a coward that you give up like that? Hermione Granger, listen to me, god damn you!" Another slap.
"Severus, I really don't think…" Dumbledore said, helplessly staring at his Spymaster that had obviously gone mad with pain.
"Quiet," Severus shouted, and such power was in his voice that the room fell silent completely. "Is this your Gryffindor strength, Hermione? This is nothing! You are weak, pathetic! Open your eyes, gods damn you! Open your bloody eyes or I will rip them from your skull!"
Nothing but silence in the room, the laboured breathing of Severus and the muffled sobs of Mrs Weasley and Tonks.
Then, when Harry had already started to turn away in defeat, a tired voice, raspy and hoarse, made him whirl around.
"Fuck you, Severus," Hermione whispered, and cracked her eyes open in a silent show of unbelievable strength.
Severus smiled, his anger melting away from him like snow in a fire. "I knew you were just lazy," He told her quietly, and softly caressed her face with his thumb.
"You are a monster," She answered, still barely audible. "I was never…" Her words ended in a coughing fit that racked her thin body like a leaf.
"Quiet," Severus ordered her. "Relax and let me heal you. You look as if someone slapped you in the face repeatedly."
"Bastard," She mouthed, then closed her eyes again, to his tender smile.
"Sleep," He whispered. "I will be right here, I promise. I love you."
He didn't look up to them as he healed her once more, for reasons unknown leaving out the bruises on her face and the scratches on her hands, and administered several potions and salves in quick succession. He washed her hands, face and throat carefully and softly brushed her hair back from her face, then transfigured her torn robes into wide, comfortable trousers and a shirt and covered her with a blanket Molly handed him quietly. Only then did he rise from her side, not without placing a monitoring charm on her.
"Severus," Dumbledore finally said, unsure what to say.
The intensity of his burning black eyes shocked them all.
"I know what is best for her, Albus, and no one will stop me from doing it," He announced, his head raised defiantly. "Not even you."
When no protests came forward, he sighed and only now could Harry see how tired he was. "I need to sit down," He admitted.
"Certainly," The Headmaster agreed hastily. "Let us return to the table, that is if you don't want to stay with Miss Granger…"
Severus shook his head. "She needs to sleep now," he explained hoarsely. "Once she wakes, she will be fine again."
"I find it hard to believe that she will ever be fine again, after what we just witnessed," Molly Weasley said as they crossed over to the huge oval table, Severus moving like an old man and Remus painfully rubbing his back.
"It was a close call," Severus answered quietly, and Harry realized that he had never seen him that exhausted before. He felt drained, too, but he had never seen his Potions Professor so out of control that his perfect masks slipped. "But this was only a physical attack. We had worse before."
Lucius Malfoy hadn't been present, Harry remembered. What had Severus said? That they still respected Malfoy's possession of her body? He shuddered.
Remus sat down gingerly, and Severus suddenly looked up to him, his face twisted into a slightly embarrassed grimace.
"I'm sorry, Remus," He apologized. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I get a bit… single minded when she is in danger, and time was short."
"You were brilliant," Remus disagreed. "I didn't understand what you were doing, and why. I only saw you slapping her and reacted. I was so sure we had lost her."
"I know," Severus answered, misleadingly calm, but Harry could see how tightly he gripped the edge of the table as the realization hit how close she had been to death. "But Hermione is stronger than that. She will be back on her feet in no time at all. They just caught her unaware."
"Do you know what happened, then?" Dumbledore inquired carefully.
"Yes. She showed it to me," Severus said and closed his eyes for a moment, a muscle in his cheek twitching wildly. He took a deep breath and suddenly sat straight again. Harry was amazed to see how he regained his composure in the time it took him to breathe in and out. Every emotion left him, colour returned to his face and when he opened his eyes again, he was the Spymaster they all knew, calm, controlled and untouchable.
"It was a plot," He reported, his voice regaining its rich, self-assured quality while he spoke. "A plot by some of the Inner Circle members against her. They have been jealous of her influence for a long time now, and it seems that one of them was finally stupid enough to act."
"It didn't seem stupid to me," Harry disagreed quietly. "It rather looked as if they did a thorough job."
"They failed completely," Severus answered expressionlessly. "For she got away alive. They attacked her immediately when she appeared, placing anti-apparitions wards around the clearing, but they couldn't resist a little torture before finishing her off. Those imbeciles. Their plan must have been to finally kill her and hide her body. Now that she escaped however," He suddenly smiled, a dark and bitter smile that held not the slightest amusement. "Now, they are in deep trouble."
"You know that you can't move against them, Severus," Remus protested, surprised that their Spymaster would even consider revenge. "We can't risk to betray her position."
"Oh, but I won't move a finger," Severus retorted, still smiling dangerously. "Didn't you hear Hermione, out there, before she collapsed? She will hunt down every single one of them, and then she will destroy them. If I am not very mistaken, they won't survive the month."
He chuckled as he saw the shocked expression on the faces around him. "She can be quite single-minded, too."
Not knowing how to react to this, it took the Order a moment to regain their composure.
"So they didn't act under the command of Voldemort?" Professor McGonagall asked finally.
"On the contrary," Severus answered. "Hermione has been rising swiftly among their ranks. She is very close to the Dark Lord now, and while that gives her protection in many ways, it also causes hate, envy and fear. She holds power among those pureblood men, and they hate her for it. Once the Dark Lord finds out about this attack, his wrath will be terrible." And he smiled again, clearly enjoying the thought.
"How did she get away?" Draco asked quietly.
"That part of her memory is a bit hazy," Severus admitted, frowning. "As far as I can interpret it, she stabbed the two that were holding her, managed to crawl to the edge of the wards and apparated away."
"She stabbed them? I n her state?" Tonks gasped.
Severus just shrugged in reply. "It was that or die," He commented calmly. "And her left arm was fully functional, after all. She even managed to grab her wand before she fled."
"Her left arm was fully functional…" Tonks echoed, obviously not believing what she had heard.
Severus shrugged again. "She once managed to reach my chambers while suffering from internal bleeding that would have killed an elephant," He said, and now Harry was sure that his calmness was just a façade. Under normal circumstances, he would never have let information like that slip.
"But she's quite safe now?" Draco suddenly asked, his voice pressed and nervous and higher than normal. "You're sure about that?"
"I will keep watch over her until she wakes," Severus answered quietly. "But unless there's another seizure, she should wake in a few hours and be fine."
"I…" Mrs Weasley began, obviously unsure how to phrase her words, and Harry closed his eyes, desperately hoping that tonight's event had helped her realize a few things. Obviously, they had.
"You took better car e of her than anyone else could have managed," Mrs Weasley said quietly. "It seems that you really know what is best for her, Severus. I'm sorry."
Their Spymaster simply nodded instead of an answer, too tired to rub it in.
"Can we wait here until she wakes?" Draco asked.
Dumbledore waited for Severus' nod, and when it came, a tentative smile bloomed on his face.
"An excellent idea, my dear boy. I seem to recall that Remus was interrupted in his report rather abruptly. If you wouldn't mind continuing it now…"
Remus sent him a disbelieving look, clearly asking himself how the Headmaster could even think about werewolf clan structure right now, but Dumbledore sent a long look in the direction of their Spymaster, and Remus understood.
Severus had closed his eyes again, his hands grubbing the mug of tea he had conjured himself so hard that his knuckles shone white. He wasn't fit to talk, but he wouldn't admit a weakness to them, either. This way, he could silently regain his strength while they all pretended they were engrossed in a discussion.
Once more, Harry wondered if Dumbledore hadn't been a Slytherin, back in his youth.
Thus began the longest and least efficient Order meeting Harry had ever witnessed. After Remus had finished a rather long winded and insubstantial report, Bill continued by repeating a long lecture Charley had given him about dragon taming. Draco added a detailed description of pureblood customs centred around Halloween, sending covert looks at Severus now and then.
They were all relieved when they saw colour return to his cheeks, and when he uttered his first scornful remark about the uselessness of Drac's information, they knew that he had recovered from the shock.
It was ten o'clock when Severus asked about any progress concerning the ball and the information they had so far gathered on Dougall.
"Is there anything we could do…" He said, then stopped abruptly and tilted his head to the left a bit. "Can you walk?" He then asked, and most of the Order stared at him in confusion.
"Think so," The tired voice of Hermione answered and Harry realized that the sharp ears of the Spymaster had registered the sounds of her waking up. He twisted around and saw her slowly moving into a sitting position.
"Try it," Severus said and rose swiftly. "If you manage, there is warm tea waiting for you here."
"Brilliant," She answered and stood, only to stumble slightly and stretch out her hand for support. Severus was by her side and supporting her in the blink of an eye. How could he move so fast without making a sound, Harry wondered quietly.
"How do you feel?" The Spymaster's deep, rich voice asked, and she snorted slightly.
"As if I was slapped in the face repeatedly," She answered, but her hand reached out to his cheek and touched him softly, only for a second. Harry could see how some of the stiffness vanished from Severus's shoulders in answer.
"Sorry about that," He replied lightly. "But you just wouldn't hear."
"You are lucky that I'm as weak as a kitten, mister," She growled, but a smile tugged at her lips and she leaned into his touch when he helped her sit down. "Otherwise I'd repay you fully for that."
"Another time, dearest," He smiled and poured her tea. She took the cups in her hands as if to seek warmth from it, then sighed and looked up to the men and women around her.
"You look terrible, all of you," She told them. "I gather it was an impressive show then."
"Especially the part when you nearly died on us," Draco said and impulsively reached out to touch her hand.
"Oh, stop fussing," She told him crossly, but her eyes were soft as she looked at him. "It wasn't such a big thing. I was stupid, I paid for it, now I'm fine again. Nothing to worry about."
Harry wanted to tell her that, quite on the contrary, it had been a huge thing, watching her bleeding to death. But something in her eye told him that she didn't want to discuss it. And wasn't she right, in a way? As long as they couldn't change what had happened or stop the danger she was in every single day, what was the use of brooding over the events of the evening?
"How many got away?" Severus asked, no emotion touching his face, but Harry could see that his eyes were fixed on her and her alone.
"Six I think," She answered with a sigh. "I killed two before they got hold of me and stabbed another pair, as you probably saw in the memories I sent you." She stopped for a moment. "I'm sorry about that," She then whispered. "I know that must have been terrible. I just didn't have another idea how to tell you."
"Don't be foolish," He answered quietly. "Do you know their identities? I saw only two faces and I didn't know those men. My knowledge is getting slightly outdated."
"Yes," She said and for a moment, she bared her teeth in a silent snarl. "I know who they are." She looked even more dangerous than Severus had.
"They were quite thorough in their attempt," He told her, and she chuckled as if appreciating a sarcastic joke.
"Any long term damage?" She then asked, and Harry couldn't believe that she was able to talk about her own body that clinically, that detached.
"None I could find," Severus answered, and silence once more descended on them while Hermione finished her tea.
"My dear," The Headmaster finally made himself heard. "I can only imagine how tired you are, and it is quite late already…"
"Yes Headmaster," She agreed. "You're absolutely right. I should go now."
Something was strange in the way she said this words, and Harry quickly glanced over to Severus. The Spymaster had closed his eyes, and the muscle in his cheek was twitching again.
"I'm not sure this is wise, Hermione," He said.
"It is necessary," She disagreed.
"But you are tired, and you have made mistakes before when you were in this state of mind. Don't you think…"
"I have decided," She said sharply, then her face softened and she rose, suppressing a gasp of pain, and walked over to Severus's chair.
"I'm sorry," She told him, resting a hand on his shoulder for a moment. "But it must be done."
"Just a moment," Harry interrupted, a shudder of realization rushing through him. "You are not going to your rooms, are you? What are you planning?"
She looked at him unwillingly, reproachfully for bringing this up, and slightly shook her head.
"You are not leaving before you tell me!" Harry said. "Where are you going?"
She sighed. "To Voldemort, Harry," She answered quietly. "He has to see me as long as my energy levels are low and the bruises of my face not healed. I must go to him tonight if I want to play my cards to best advantage."
"You are going to Voldemort?" Remus asked, clearly horrified. "Tonight? After what just happened to you?"
She smiled. "Don't you know what they are saying about riding, Remus?" She asked. "When you take a fall, it is best to remount the horse immediately."
"No," Draco stood suddenly, not noticing that he overturned his chair in the process. "This is not a game of cards we are talking about, this is your life! You will not go back while you are too weak to protect yourself – that would be madness!"
"But that's the point," Hermione explained calmly. "If I look weak enough to coax him into protecting me, I have won! I won't even have to kill those six men myself – he will do it for me! Can you imagine what consequences this will have? The Dark Lord punishing his Inner Circle for hurting a mudblood? His followers will start to question him!"
"Or, if your luck runs out," Draco protested. "You could be killed off by anybody on your way there. You might not even be able to approach the Dark Lord!"
"I must agree, Hermione," Remus now said, his voice steady but with an edge to it. "Going there now is madness."
"But don't you see that this is the best thing that could have happened?" She answered angrily. "It will take only a little more effort from my side and I can use this attack to secure my position among them for the next months! This is exactly what we need to give me the necessary trust and power! He will believe anything I say now, and nothing the other Death Eaters might say against me!"
"You were nearly killed!" Harry was shouting now, but he didn't care. "You were only inches from death! And now you're telling us this is the best what could have happened? That's twisted, Hermione! And it's even more twisted to go into danger again, just because you still have some bruises to show off… bruises…" He faltered and fell silent.
In his mind, the memory of Severus healing Hermione was being replayed, how the Spymaster had healed everything, had even washed her face, only leaving out the wounds that were easily visible for some unknown reason…
He whirled around and stared at Severus. "You knew she would go back! That's why you didn't heal the bruises on her face and hands!" He accused him, and Severus made no move to deny it.
"Excellent perception, Harry," He said quietly. "You are learning fast."
"But why?"
"Because I would have returned tonight as well," Severus answered.
"How could you think of that, when you had just seen her nearly die under your hands?" Remus cried out. "How can you simply let her go like this? What sort of man are you, Severus?"
Only now, when the Order seemed ready to round on Severus, did Hermione raise her voice in anger.
"Don't you dare blame this on Severus!" She yelled, straightening imperiously as she prepared to give them all a tongue-lashing. "It is my decision! And the fact that he supports me shows only how much he respects my competence, damn you! I can't believe…"
"Hermione," Severus interrupted calmly. "Concentrate on the important things."
"I do," She shouted. "You are important! I will not have them heap guilt on your shoulders when you're near the breaking point already! You mustn't…"
Suddenly she swayed and closed her eyes in a sudden fit of pain. Blindly, she grasped for the edge of her chair or anything that would support her, but she would have fallen, had Severus not been by her side in an instant.
"That's what I meant," He told her quietly while guiding her hands to the polished wood of the table. "You have little strength left as it is. Don't waste it foolishly. Keep your eyes closed for a moment."
And with that, he left her standing among them, swaying slightly with exhaustion and pain, her only protection from a bad fall the edge of the table to which she held on with her life.
"Here," He reappeared behind her before anyone else could react, and pressed a vial into her hand. He carefully straightened her and let her lean against his shoulders.
"Do you want to lie down for a moment?"
"I would never get up again," She whispered tiredly. "Thank you." She uncorked the potion and downed it quickly.
"Eight hours," He told her. "You had better be flat on your back by then. You will feel terrible anyway."
"Nothing new then," She croaked, and slowly opened her eyes again. When she had assured herself that the room wasn't spinning around her any longer, she looked up to him for a long moment, her brown eyes dark and seemingly expressionless.
Then, she nodded, and he led her over to one of the tapestries. It was the one that connected to the unused storeroom, down in the dungeons. Harry recognized it from its especially shabby looks.
She still moved like an old woman, but when she activated he tapestry, her fingers were swift and her eyes didn't waver. While the golden glow grew, she turned around and melted into Severus' arms. He pressed her tightly for a moment, his face grey with worry and exhaustion.
"Come back to me," He whispered.
"I will," She promised, her voice steadier than her hands. Then she slowly moved away from him, breaking the contact reluctantly. When she looked back to where they sat, her eyes were expressionless and cold, as if her mind was already preparing for the things she would have to do.
"A good hunt," Severus wished her. "And kick them for me."
She nodded and stepped through the tapestry.
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A/N: Hoped you like it! Please drop me a review to comment/praise/criticise! Your input really means much to me!
