A.N.: I know many of you are waiting for Hermione to get out. She WILL get out, but not right away. This wouldn't be realistic. Don't be afraid: she will NOT be raped or tortured. This is not this kind of story.

Chapter 34: Wide awake

Severus felt dead tired on his feet, which was partly due to the drain Hermione had put on his magical energy. He had mostly recovered it by now, but after Dumbledore had brought him the news, he had barely been able to sleep as his thoughts just wouldn't still. There wasn't much he could do right now to find Hermione, without seeming overly suspicious. And as he currently didn't even know where his master was, he would have to wait until being called to him. His only chance to get Hermione out, was to seem unsuspicious and trustworthy because Severus did not doubt that otherwise, he wouldn't come close enough to even see the witch. This meant he'd have to be patient, even though he had the urge to forget about being cautious and storming in like a fucking Gryffindor. But he couldn't do that because he might be Hermione's only chance to escape if there even was a chance, to begin with. For that to work careful planning would be required, so that he could give Hermione his best shot, because there wouldn't be a second chance for him. Once he had thrown his cards on the table and made his allegiances known, there would be no going back for him. The Dark Lord would hunt him down mercilessly and even considered Severus would survive long enough, he wouldn't come close enough to Hermione ever again. This meant his best option, for now, was waiting, no matter how much it pained him. Luckily there was something he could do to help Hermione, apart from letting that cheeky feline house in his quarters. And that was helping her other friends to stay alive.

"Before we're starting this detention we're going to have a little talk," he said after closing the classroom door behind him. He hadn't taken them to the dungeons but chosen an empty defence classroom instead, as it was much better suited for what he had planned. "Sit."

The redheads looked at him suspiciously but followed his request without complaint. So far so good. He, too, leaned casually against one of the tables, before he looked at the two Gryffindors with his arms crossed in front of his chest. "Now tell me: how did you find it a good idea to roam the corridors at night, when a significant part of my Slytherins is determined to bring the Dark Lord your heads?"

The boys stared at him with wide eyes, before the older one, Fred, said: "What? You mean they're out for our blood?"

Severus couldn't help but arch his brows in condescension at their naiveté.

"Seriously? You're having to ask this? As far as I am aware, the Dark Lord assumed the Open Link has decided to forge a link to at least one of you. Cutting such ties is not easy, but death is a pretty reliable method, don't you think?"

"Merlin," the other one – George – replied, shaking his head in disbelief. "But we didn't… we aren't linked to Hermione."

"It doesn't matter," he waved him of. "The Dark Lord is convinced you are. The girl is definitely linked to someone, considering her little stunt in the Ministry. You seemed to be the only ones aware of her condition, as not even Potter or your brother knew. To him, matters are quite clear, which puts you in a dangerous position."

His words were followed by a serious nod from the twins. Going by their expression the reality finally started to sink in. "Merlin," George tonelessly said, while the other one, Fred, looked at him with a determined expression. "What do you want us to do? Hide in our dorm?"

Severus couldn't help but snort. "That would only postpone the problem. And everyone knows of your affinity for late-night-excursions, so I doubt you'd be able to stay where you're supposed to be for more than a week."

The boys didn't even try denying it and nodded. "Yeah," George said with a crooked smile. "That sounds about right. So what is it you're suggesting we do, apart from not getting caught?"

"I'm not suggesting anything. I'm just here to teach you a lesson by giving you detention," Severus replied with a crooked grin that seemed to be a tad on the dark side.

The twins nodded and for a moment they almost looked disappointed, that he was not giving them any advice. But they were old enough to draw their own conclusions after he was finished with them. "Alright, Professor. What are we supposed to be doing for detention then? Clean out the room?" Fred asked with a raised brow.

Severus shook his head. "No Mr Weasley. That would be a waste of time for all of us. And what lesson would you be learning through that anyway?"

The other twin shrugged and looked around the room. "Dunno. But there's not much else we could be doing 'round here."

"Wrong," Snape corrected them and with a wave of his wand, all the chairs and tables moved to the side. Another few wand-motions let heavy wards snap into place. He saw the twins watching his actions with an unsettled expression. "Well Messrs Weasley, what are you standing there gaping like fishes? Start moving."

"What are you expecting us to do?" Fred asked him with a puzzled expression, hiding his growing fear.

Severus looked at the boys with a glint in his eyes they could never mistake for kind. Raising his wand at them they tensed as he smirked in their direction. "Dodge."

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After breakfast, Hermione had carefully explored the large house. The place was some kind of Manor and through the large windows in the rooms downstairs, she could see, that the place was located on a steep hill that was surrounded by a large forest. There were no houses visible in the distance and considering the fact, that she had not learned to apparate yet, it would be a long walk until she found someone to help her, assuming she made it past the wards.

Downstairs most of the place was taken by some sort of large audience room. As soon as she stepped through the large, double-winged doors she could see a large, black throne at the other end of the room that was decorated with all sorts of serpents that seemed to wind themselves around it. The floor was also built from some sort of black marble and only the blood-red carpet in the middle of it, provided some sort of colour. Was that the room where You-Know-Who met his followers, where he tortured them? Was this even the room where he had tortured Severus? Would she hear them screaming at night? The thought made her skin break out in goosebumps and involuntarily she stumbled backwards, only to find the self-proclaimed Dark Lord right behind her, as she bumped into his chest. Hermione stiffened before retreating with hasty steps into the opposite direction. Had he followed her?

"This is where I prefer to meet my followers when I am residing in this house" the man explained casually and stepped past her into the room. "Impressive, isn't it?"

What was she supposed to reply to that? Apart from the throne and the carpet, the room was pretty empty. There weren't even chairs. Why was the room that empty? Didn't that man find it boring staring at an empty room for the whole time?

"I prefer my followers to kneel or stand," Lord Voldemort replied as if he had read her thoughts. He probably had, Hermione realized in horror and hastily increased her Occlumency shields. Her most sensitive secrets should be unreachable for that bastards but him being possibly able to read her every-day thoughts was more than unsettling. It made her feel naked.

Her action was honoured with an unsettling smile that made him look even less human. Hermione shuddered. Looking at that room with that man standing inside it made the whole situation suddenly seem more real to her and suddenly she felt terrified by the prospect of spending Merlin knew how many years within these walls.

"I'm going to my room," she announced without commenting on the room's interior. She didn't want to rub that man the wrong way. In fact, she wanted as little contact with him as possible. Which led her to sit in her room and contemplating her situation. From now on she'd have her Occlumency shields even more firmly in place. She had to protect Severus at all costs because she had a pretty clear idea of what would happen to her friend as soon as her host found out, that she was linked to him. Hermione couldn't let this happen. She had disappointed Severus once, but she would not do so again.

It had probably been the longest day of her life, Hermione mused when she finally sunk into her bed many hours later. Mealtimes, that she seemed to be expected to attend, had been a silent affair, at least from her side. She could feel the man's eyes on her all the time and was only too happy finally leaving the dining room behind. Unfortunately, Lord Voldemort seemed to be spending most of the day in the library, which made her avoid the room, which she had planned to visit, like a plague. Reading would have been her only distraction and possibility to find a way out of this hell-hole. But she couldn't do that with the man constantly watching her like she was his prey.

Hermione couldn't go on like this. She needed to leave that place, the sooner the better.

And so she waited in her bed until past midnight, until she sneaked out of her room clad in her old Hogwarts clothes. She didn't plan to make a big escape today, but she wanted to take an undisturbed look at some library books to find some ways to detect and analyse wards. Because she had no problems believing that Lord Voldemort had this house well secured and she didn't fancy suffering some nasty curse or anything equally nasty if she tried to leave the grounds.

The library was huge and Hermione could only imagine that there was some sort of mighty extension-charm in place to hold such a vast collection of books. It was probably comparable to the size of the Hogwarts library, even though one quick scan of the titles confirmed her suspicions that most of these books would probably never be found there. She had thought that the Blacks had an extensive collection of books on dark magic, but to the many filled shelves she found on the topic here it paled in comparison. But dark magic wasn't what she was looking for. Luckily her host seemed interested in many other topics too which left her hopeful that she'd be able to find something suitable to take to her room and occupy her for the next days.

But as soon as she sneaked down the shelves, she could see a small light at the end of one row. Someone else was here, someone who rather preferred being undetected. Damn. She should probably leave again before she stumbled upon one of her host's Death Eaters alone and in a dark library. She sighed.

"Looking for anything in particular?" a foreign male voice startled her from behind. Turning around hastily Hermione shone the illuminated tip of her wand into a stranger's face. She stared at it with wide, distrustful eyes.

"Who are you?" she asked, prepared to attack him. Luckily the blonde, grey-eyed man didn't look like a Death Eater. He was young, probably in his twenties and going by the Pyjamas that peeked through his dressing gown, she had startled him as much as he had her.

"Could ask you the same," he mumbled studying her from head to toe. "You shouldn't be here in the middle of the night. Go to bed, it's a dangerous place," he said in a warning tone.

Hermione sighed. He was right, she knew he was, but she really needed to find out about those wards. Otherwise, she'd be here forever. "I need a book," she said hastily looking at the shelves.

The stranger stared back at her with a snort. "Obviously. We're in a library, after all. Come back in the morning then. You won't find what you're looking for in the middle of the night." With that the man moves past her, strolling back to the place he must have been sitting before. Hermione followed his retreating figure with a sigh. Hermione blinked. Was this the other occupant of the house, You-Know-Had had mentioned during their breakfast? Possibly. Who else would he be? If Voldemort kept him in this house than this could only mean two things: either this man was one of his allies, or he was a prisoner like her. She'd find out more about him, sooner or later.

But not tonight. She thought. Tonight she just needed a book, before she went back to her chambers as quickly as possible. If the man really was a prisoner like her, she was sure to meet him again sooner or later or find out about him from another source. Maybe Hurry would be willing to talk about him… Yeah, asking the little friendly elf would be a good idea to gather some information, she decided as she strolled down the shelves with her wand illuminating the books in front of her. Because no matter how much she wished for an ally, Hermione would stay on her watch. She'd made enough mistakes already. She wouldn't make another one.

ssssss

Finally, the girl was asleep. Sprawled out on the silken purple sheets, her face relaxed into a peaceful expression wearing one of his nightshirts again. It wouldn't be long and she would be totally his until she'd want him to be hers too. He couldn't wait to hold her young body in these sheets, to possess her. It would be delicious. Carefully as not to wake her, his hand trailed to her hair, touching one of her curls and rubbing it between his fingers. He liked the feel of it and wondered how it would smell. He couldn't risk it, it was too early and he'd rather avoid obliviating her because of such a stupid mistake. No, he'd wait, he'd watch and he'd carefully make his plans, he decided, finally letting go of her and turning around to leave the room. He'd come back, he told himself, as he shut the door in complete silence and turned in the direction of his own room. He'd try to get a little rest, too, before he saw her in the morning. He couldn't wait to see her again, his little prize.

"Hermione," Harry gasped pulling himself up in his sweaty sheets. He'd seen her, seen her through his eyes. That creepy bastard was watching her sleep, he realized with growing horror. And his intentions towards Harry's friend had been pretty clear during Harry's dream. He wanted to make her his, wanted to touch her. God, he was going to be sick.

Lord Voldemort wanted to possess Hermione, Harry's friend, who was like a sister to him. It was his fault that she was now in that monster's claws, that he was even watching her in his sleep. Merlin, there had to be something he could do to help her. Because he wasn't sure how many more dreams like that he could stand.

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