Chapter 6

"You know she's right Severus. It was Lily, just like it was Fred. And it wasn't just her saying so. You felt it inside too. You felt her presence."

Severus turned and looked at her as if she had just betrayed him. "What did you tell her?"

"I didn't tell her anything."

"WHAT DID YOU TELL HER?! It was a trick. She can't be real. No one can bring back the dead."

Hermione tried to make him see reason. "Harry did. He had the resurrection stone and brought them all back before he faced Voldemort. He told me so."

Severus was pacing, trying to find another explanation. "That was different, he had the stone."

"He also told me he saw them on the night Cedric Diggory was killed." Hermione tried to reason with him again, "Severus, you have seen so much in your life. Is this really beyond you? You nearly died in the shrieking shack. Don't tell me the souls of the dead don't exist or can't be contacted, when you know they can. Lydia is not Trelawney. She's not deceiving you."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore. I'm going to bed." She followed him in. Trying to convince him as he changed for the night.

"She has the ability to see them. To speak with them." He went to the bathroom and closed the door. "You can't run away from this. I know your alarmed and confused. It must be terrible to think those creatures are still around when you thought them dead and gone. But what if she's right? Severus…you're the bravest man I know, you can face this."

There was no answer from inside. What Hermione didn't know was that he had felt the darkness. He'd brushed off a sudden chill or raging anger as new term stress. He could not deny the dreams he'd had of shadows and whispers lately. Now it horribly began to make sense, and yet be impossible.

When he finally opened the door he came to bed without a word. She tried to comfort him but he was unresponsive. Hermione kissed his shoulder and said I love you before going to sleep.

At 3am she awoke to Severus moaning and crying in his sleep. He hadn't had a nightmare like this in years. "STOP! NO! NO! YOU'RE DEAD. LEAVER HER ALONE! HERMIONE! HERMIONE!" She couldn't wake him. His body so tense he'd started to give off sparks. "I WON'T DO IT! YOU'RE DEAD, YOU CAN'T MAKE ME! NO!" She had to do something fast, and hoped this wouldn't cause him harm. She stood, and took the glass of water from the nightstand. She threw it in his face.

"SEVERUS WAKE UP."

He didn't just wake up. He flew out of the bed and landed hard with his back against the wall, wand in hand. Sparks flying from his hair. His eyes were wild and he was sweating and breathing like he just run a marathon.

"Severus?" Hermione called him as gently as she could, having lit every candle in the room. He seemed to recognize her slowly as she approached him. "Put your wand down love it's okay. You're at home with me."

He seemed to settle a moment, then grabbed her hard and crushed her to him. He turned his body to put her between him and the wall protectively. "Hermione… Hermione they were going to kill you. I couldn't reach you. They were taking you away!" He grabbed her face and kissed her hard while tears fell in his panic.

She tried to sooth him. "I'm safe my love. It's ok. We're at home. There's no one here."

Severus held her close while he added more wards to the room. His wand flying so fast she could hardly see it. "It was a dream Severus. We're safe at Hogwarts. You know no one can breach those wards." He refused to let her go though she pushed him back enough to breathe. It took almost half an hour for him to calm down enough to pull him to a chair, he was still shaking from the adrenalin.

Hermione sat at his feet holding his hands on his lap. "Tell me what happened."

He reached down and pulled her onto his lap, holding her close. "Death eaters had taken you to the manor dungeons. I was there, but I couldn't get to you. They were holding me back. You were screaming and calling for me, but all I could do was watch. They were dragging you down a long hallway with a light at the end. All I could see was your silhouette fighting them. She told me… She said I had to join them again or they would kill you." He kissed her forehead and she felt his tears drop to her face. "She said I had to kill Lydia to join them." He began to rock her back and forth.

"Who Severus. Who did this to you?"

"It was Bellatrix."

"This was not just a dream Severus. You know that now."

oopOqoo

Hermione sent her patronis for me. Just three words. 'We need help'.

I dressed and ran to their quarters. When I got there I tried to knock. It was heavily warded and got a bad shock when I touched the door. "Hermione! Hermione, I can't get in." I paced in the hall for a few minutes waiting for them to come. Something must be terribly wrong for them to ward the door like that.

"Hermione. Can you hear me? Let me in."

"I'm here, just a moment." I could hear her trying to unward the door, but she was having trouble. A few minutes more and it opened. "Wait!" She held out her hand to stop me before I crossed in. Severus was with her and pulled her back behind him pointing his wand at me. I froze. He ran an identity charm and a detection charm before he would let me in.

"What's happened?" Severus turned away from me, but never left Hermione's side.

She took a deep breath to try to explain. "Severus had a nightmare. He dreamed that Death Eaters were going to kill me. He's had nightmares before, but I've never seen him so afraid. It must have felt very real." His arms crept up to her shoulders and he pulled her tight to him.

"Severus. Was it just a dream?" He looked at me accusingly.

"Yes! Just a dream. I believe it was your foolishness that triggered it. You are only here because Hermione wanted you." She went to object, but I stopped her.

Taking a moment I noticed the deepening shadow that had fallen on him. "They are whispering to you now aren't they? They are telling you that I am lying, that I am a threat. Severus your still in there, but they have control over your subconscious that much is clear. They will continue to torment you. Eventually they will have control of your body when you dream. You are putting your life and Hermione's on the line. You could kill her and not realize it. Please let me help you." He continued to look at me with contempt. I looked at Hermione helplessly. He would listen only to her.

"Hermione. Maybe you can help. Are you a quick study?"

She looked at me desperate to do something. "Yes, What can I do?"

"I'm going to give you a lesson in clairvoyance." I held out my hands to her and she tried to come to me, but Severus held her back. "Severus release her." He refused. Hermione gently took his hand from her shoulder and kissed it. She led him to the chair and made him sit down and then stood in front of me.

"Hermione do you trust me?" I pulled out my wand. She looked me in the eye and nodded. I pushed her to the side and struck Severus with an Immobulus before he could stop me. "I'm sorry… to both of you. But they already have control over Severus and they will try to stop us. If you don't believe me, remove the spell and I will go." I handed her my wand. Hermione wasn't sure, but the daggers in his eyes could kill. She gave it back to me.

"She said they wanted him to kill you."

"What? Who said?"

"In his dream. She said If he didn't kill you, they were going to kill me."

"Do you know who she is?"

"Yes. A powerful and evil witch named Bellatrix Lestrange. She tortured me and left me with this." Hermione pulled up her sleeve to show me her arm and a scar with the word Mudblood. I looked at it closely.

The scar was deep and looked as if it had only just closed up. "Good." She looked at me as if I were insane and pulled her arm back. "No, no. You misunderstand. This means you have a connection with Severus and this Bellatrix. It will make it easier for you to focus."

I pulled her over to the sofa. "It's too late to try to reach Severus and we don't have much time. He is a powerful wizard and they will feed off of it to free him soon. We have to purge this soul from him or he will become her. Do you understand?"

She agreed helplessly. "What do we do?"

I smiled to give her reassurance though I wasn't all that sure myself. "We start the way we always start. Breathe." I took her hands and we sat on the couch to breathe together. Once I felt she was focused I began. I had only seen this done once and she was a master, but we had no choice.