Chapter 14

Grabbing her bag from the bed, she checked to make sure she had the stuff before opening the door.

She could faintly hear loud voices coming from the others.

Hermione could hear Zephrine's voice as she spoke to somebody. As for Snape, she hadn't seen him since the first night she had been back. Not that it mattered.

It had been almost four weeks since she last heard directly from him.

Everything she knew at the moment was because of Dimitry. It hadn't been much except that Riddle was moving, gaining followers each day.

She had also not heard from Marcus in a long time. None of them had, not even Dimitry. Hermione hadn't seen him since she had come back so technically she hadn't seen him in over two years.

She worried about him a lot. The only one that had sent word of him had been Graham.

Graham had only said he was busy and would soon get word to her. But she couldn't drag Graham from thier set plan. No matter what.

It still didn't feel right not to hear from Marcus directly. It also had Adrian in a bad mood, since he too hadn't heard anything from him.

She was actually planning on paying Skeeter a visit since just the week before she had released a paper on Harry.

Hermione hadn't planned on doing anything just yet but Sirius had actually come to the villa with Remus to tell her that Harry had been dropped off at Molly's. They had stayed a bit to tell her that they had been ordered to watch Harry and not to let him out of their sight.

Remus had looked at Hermione seriously, "Dumbledore is having him watched all summer. He thinks something will happen before the start of the new term."

Hermione had written to Harry instead of visiting him in case something happened on her end. She had asked him how he was doing. Has he done his homework, how was he coping with Cedric's death. He had answered every single question. His familiar handwriting had sent a harsh yearning for her to see him then. He had mentioned that his scar had been hurting him still. Harry had also said he hadn't seen Dumbledore since Hogwarts.

That had made her curious as to why he hadn't gone to see him. Remus and Sirius hadn't been able to give her an answer after all that, so she had sent them away with a promise to talk later.

Brushing aside the memory, she let out a loud sigh as she opened the door and froze as she heard Zephrine's voice coming from the living room.

"Marcus! What have they done?"

Hurrying to the living room once she heard the urgency in Zephrine voice, she froze when she saw Snape, Marcus and somebody else standing in the middle of the living room.

Ignoring Snape, she ran towards Marcus who had been leaning heavily on Adrian.

"Marcus…" her voice trailed off as she took in his arm.

It had the mark, stark against his light skin. No...She didn't want to believe it but denying it would only make her look foolish.

Forcing herself to look away from it she grabbed his face and lowered it to hers. His eyes were blank and not from Occlumency but she had no doubt he was using it as well since his face was a void of emotion. Something flickered in his eyes as he gazed at her.

"Drop it, Marcus, please," she said as she tried to get him out of the funk he was in.

His eyes stared deeply into hers, for a few seconds she panicked but forced herself not to openly show it. It wasn't until a minute had passed when she could finally see something flash in his eyes again.

Not even looking in the direction of her bag; she summoned it with the just a thought. It hit her waist a little too hard and it thumped to the floor.

She missed the look the others gave her as she let go of Marcus.

Accioing Anubis Death, she forced him to sit down on the couch. Adrian helped him as the others moved away from them. Pushing back her hair, she unscrewed the flask and asked him to open his mouth. She wasn't sure what had been done to him but it was obvious that he had been cursed with Dark Magic. The small tremors in his body were a correct assumption on her part.

Marcus stared at her silently, watching her for a couple of seconds as his body continued to tremble quietly. He finally opened his mouth, and she shoved the liquid down his throat.

Unlike Snape, he wasn't as skillful in containing his reaction and he shot away from her in loathing once the taste over took him.

"Hermione!" he roared, eyes coming back alive with indignation.

He growled his nasty thoughts on the potion along with a death stare in her direction.

But he was back. That was all that mattered. At least at the moment.

She noticed the look that had come over Adrian before he turned to Marcus in anger, losing his usual blank face. Yes, Marcus was about to answer to somebody and that somebody was sitting right beside him.

Moving back, she slipped her bag on her shoulder once again and turned to Snape. It was only then that she saw who was standing beside him. Not giving him a chance to say anything she raised her hand and slammed his body against the wall, gaining the attention of everybody in the room.

Snape moved in front of her seconds later, "He is not an enemy." he said in a low but clear voice.

Hermione took a sharp breath and let Theodore Nott go. She turned away from them as she moved next to Zephrine, who was tending to Marcus.

"What is he doing here?" Hermione asked, not taking her gaze off the offending male.

Snape moved back away from the others and sat down in her favorite armchair before he answered in a bored voice.

"He has been put in my care since Old Nott will soon not be around anymore so the Dark Lord has asked me to be in charge of his training. He would have been given to the Malfoy, even though they were already taking care of him, so I am his guardian until he graduates and turns seventeen. But he is also to report to Riddle if I do anything that seems out of the ordinary. I hadn't thought to bring him but he…" Snape was cut off as Theodore cleared his voice.

His dark eyes connected with hers as he stayed a distance away from the others. "I don't want anything to do with him or those that follow him. But father gave me no choice in the matter. I know the risk of spying so I want him gone before he makes me do anything I can't come back from."

Silence followed his blunt request.

Hermione stared coldly at him. Not giving him a chance to retreat she swiftly raised her wand.

"Legilimens."

For once he reacted emotionally as his face flashed with fear before it shuttered and his eyes began to bleed black at her intrusions. She had got a glimpse of a girl before it was ripped away and in return, a solid obsidian wall was erected; pushing her out.

Staggering at the blow, she gasped faintly as Snape spoke up.

"He is a born Occlumency and Legilimency, something that just happens without explanation, I am one as well but with more experience, unlike Nott. Caught unaware, one can use either one on him but once he feels you in his mind, it triggers the Occlumency walls. As for Legilimency, he doesn't know how to use it yet."

Hermione nodded as she rubbed her throbbing temples. That had really hurt.

She studied Theodore, who was in the same state as her. Well, so much for getting to know his true intentions.

She looked back at Marcus and the others. Coming up with an idea, she walked up to Theodore, who once more had a vacant look on his face.

She was starting to notice the barren stares becoming very common in the circle of her acquaintances.

He stood his ground as she came within inches of his body.

Nott's face remained empty, almost better than Adrian's had been. Which was saying a lot since Adrian was known to be cold all the time?

Except with her or Marcus.

She planned to break into his head with Snape's help when Nott tried to take a step back, giving a startled gasp.

"Hermione Granger?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow in open amusement. She didn't think she looked that different but she should probably get used to this reaction. It had been the same one she had gotten from Snape.

"Who else did you think it was?" she asked, cocking a hip as she watched him apprise her in a new light. It reminded her that Marcus had been the only one to actually not question if it were really her along with Dimitry and the others.

Nott swallowed hard, glancing around the room before looking past her and knew what the scene would look like to anybody in his position.

"Why are you here, Granger?" Nott asked, voice retaining some of the coldness from before, but it still held a hint of surprise.

Hermione sighed, not really wanting to repeat the same story to him.

Looking over at Zephrine she said, "Please catch him up on everything. I have to be somewhere soon and can't miss it. I will be back in an hour or so."

Zephrine nodded, motioning Nott to her side.

"Don't tell him anything of the Horcruxes," Hermione whispered into Zephrine's head.

Brushing past Snape, she spoke in a low voice. "We have much to talk about."

Not giving him a chance to reply, she walked out of the house and headed downwards, towards the forest. She couldn't hear him but she could feel his gaze on her as she walked farther into the forest. Almost at once she felt the wards pull as she walked out of them. Looking around at a small clearing that was cut in half by a stream that was deep enough in some areas to swim.

She sat down on one of the flat stones near the stream, the warm air making her feel instantly warm. Snape stayed standing as he gave her a small piece of parchment, his dark eyes watching the woods around them.

Looking like the spy he was, black robes covering most of his figure; looking slightly out of place in such scenery.

"There have been many things happening on both sides. The biggest change for Dumbledore is that the Order of the Phoenix is active once again. The list I just gave you has most of the current members as well as some of the allies. Dumbledore and I are the only ones with the full knowledge of those on the list. Most of the ones currently in it are ones that were in the First War. Except for a few that just joined." Snape said quietly.

His eyes were tracking the birds in the trees but his attention was undeniably all hers at the moment. She looked away from him. She realized that she had been staring at him since the moment he had begun to speak.

With a small flush, she looked down and she noticed right away that many of the new members were the Weasleys.

Only Ron and Ginny weren't on the list. Neither was Percy. She memorized all of them, stopping on Kingsley Shacklebolt's name. He would be a good candidate but...

Snape's voice interrupted her musing. "As for Riddle, his gaining more followers as we speak. Mostly Purebloods and Dark Creatures. He is constantly asking for Potter and where he is being kept. He is also setting his own power within the Ministry. He has Lucius as a powerhouse but the Parkinson's and Greengrass are his runner-ups."

Hermione frowned, "Greengrass? I had a feeling about Parkinson but Greengrass? They have a lot of connections from what Dimitry has told me. He actually has a meeting with them in a few hours.I'll have to look into that. I can't let him get his claws into the Ministry. We need eyes and ears in there."

Already she was planning but she needed more people. She would even resort to blackmailing if she had too. Something she would have never have thought of doing before.

He turned towards her as he gave her an envelope. Where did he take it out of, she would never know. She took it as he began to speak. "Percy Weasley has been promoted. He was promoted a week ago to Junior Assistant to the Minister. From what Molly and Arthur are saying, he isn't allowed back home." he said casually.

Hermione hummed under breath as she let her hair down to braid it once more since most of it kept escaping it, again. Zephrine had only cut to just above her elbows but it still felt a bit too long. The curls were being weighted down. She gazed at her hair as she thought of a way to bring Percy into the fold. She had liked him quite a bit more than the others aside from the ones she hadn't met. He was perfect for what she had in mind.

But how to convince him.

Snape continued after he let her processes that. "He's being spied on by others in the Ministry for information. But they won't get anything out of him. He doesn't' know a thing, even denies the fact that Riddle is back." Hermione frowned, she would have to make sure he realized the truth.

Opening the envelope, she found exactly what she had asked him to look for. Well, she had asked Dimitry...She had Skeeter now. Not a day ago Skeeter had released an article on Harry which she was surprised he hadn't written to her about.

Blackmail was the only way to handle a woman like Skeeter. The photos and documents should be enough to get her to cooperate.

Putting the stuff away she accioed a phial and handed it to Snape. He glanced at it before nodding slightly.

He accepted it, his fingers touching hers slightly. Looking away from him, she rose and slipped her bag on. "I will be gone for a bit if you're still here when I get back we'll discuss what to do with Nott."

After a few minutes, she watched him leave, heading back towards the house. His figure soon blending into the shadows of the trees, leaving her alone by the stream.

A yearning reared its head, a desire to follow him and stay by his side.

Safe.

...0o0...

Opening the door to the Daily Prophet, she looked around as she walked by many people who were either yelling, typing, or rushing by her.

Walking further in, she heard Skeeter's loud voice.

Bingo.

Nobody once looked at her as she walked up the stairs. Not a second later she saw Skeeter head into a room to the far right. A large sign next to it had her name. Not hearing her talking anymore, she walked right in. Glancing around the room, she noticed right away that Skeeter was alone.

Quickly she shut the door with one flick. Skeeter turned around to the sound of her door closing.

Skeeter frowned. "Who are you? Do you have an appointment with me?"

Hermione smiled, not once realizing it wasn't an actual smile but a Slytherin worthy smirk of revenge.

"No, I don't have one, but that won't matter soon. You see, I know many things about you. Some really shocking things."

Not giving her a chance to say anything she accioed the envelope with a wave of her hand, the photos floated up so Skeeter could see them.

Hermione smiled once more as she saw Skeeter rear back in horror and mortification. "Ah, I see you noticed what I hold here. Now be a kind dear and listen to every single thing I have to say. By the way, you do know me. Hermione Granger, remember? The slag who has many blocks after her."

….o0o

"Hermione, your back. Where did you go?" Dimitry asked her as she passed him. Zephrine sent her a large smile, her eyes twinkling at his tone. Hermione gave him a roll of her eyes as she checked Marcus over.

He was slumped to one side, head on the armrest. She touched his forehead, ignoring everybody but a dark set of eyes.

"How is he?" she asked Snape.

Snape stared into her eyes, reminding her of the feeling that hadn't faded in the time she had been away. He looked away after a few seconds and back to the book in his hands.

"He needs to rest and take potions. Soon, he will be called back for another round of lessons."

Those dark words made her mad but also sad. She knew what Marcus would be going back to. And she hated it. But she knew she couldn't do anything about it.

Not this time.

She sat down next to Adrian, who had been staring at Nott with a thoughtful look on his face.

Nott met her eyes a second later, eyes once again impassive. Adrian grabbed a few wisps of her hair tugging her head onto his shoulder in a familiar manner. Nott's eyes followed their movements woodenly.

"Why are you here Granger? What are you doing?" Nott asked in a low but firm voice.

Hermione closed her eyes, "I want to save somebody dear to me. Or at least that was why I first started to do this. The people in this room also have agreed to help me but for reasons of their own. We all have something to gain. And everything to lose," she said as she opened her eyes to meet his dark green eyes.

He cocked his head as he glanced at Snape. "Ah, you mean Snape? And the others? You are wondering how I have such people helping me?"

At his nod, she glanced at Zephrine who had set a tray down full of pastries. Zephrine winked at her as she walked back out. She really didn't act like a Slytherin ice queen. Unlike Malfoy's mother.

Letting out a small sigh, she stood and made her way to Snape who had gone still at her approach. He touched against her shields but she refused to give him a hint.

Feeling very bold all of a sudden, she did something that would have shocked her parents and Harry as well as anybody else that had once known her.

She grabbed the book and set it aside and leaned into him as she turned back to look at Nott. His expression faltered, revealing shock and a hint of horror. About to reply, she saw Dimitry shoot her a sly look, forgetting to stay in character.

Biting back a smile, she stared at Nott calmly, "How do you think I have come to get such good grades?"

Dimitry turned his head away as he bit back a smile. It probably reminded him of the time she had used him to taunt Snape. He stood and made his way to her side too. His steps suddenly becoming sensual, which didn't interest her in the least.

Nott turned shocked eyes to the others, especially Zephrine, who had walked in. Dimitry leaned down to her and kissed her cheek, face hidden from Nott as he faced her way. There was no tension in his body, unlile the body under her.

Sliding off Snape, who had stayed frozen, she slid her arms around Dimitry, while still gazing at Nott, "I seduced them of course. Isn't that the only way somebody like me, a muggleborn, can get them on my side."

Nott stood up, "Stop playing with me! I am being serious. I want to know why would Severus Snape willingly help you. He hates you. All purebloods are supposed to hate people like you."

Hermione let Dimitry go as she made her way to Nott. She wasn't fazed by his comments. Standing bare inches from his figure, she looked into his eyes as she dropped the fake face, dropping the jokes aside, the play. He had fallen right into her trap.

Making him lose control by showing something shocking but also mocking him.

Hermione had to use all means necessary to get his true intentions. Her actions had given her what she had wanted from the very beginning.

Hermione cleared her mind, allowing the cold arms of Occlumency to shield her mind.

"The only thing you need to know is that I will find a way to rid the world of Tom Riddle and his followers. I will protect Harry with everything I have and more. If Riddle wins, the world will be a much darker and colder place. He will kill innocents for power. For himself. I don't want to live in a world like that. But following Dumbledore will only cause more deaths, more time in hiding. There are more things to consider than Riddle himself as well."

"Everybody in this room knows their place in this plan. Everybody but you. Are you going to help us or run to your Master?" she asked coldly.

Nott's face had gone pale, but his chin was still raised as he tugged his sleeve up, "I'm one of them. I was the only exception. Draco Malfoy and the others won't bear the mark till they turn seventeen. But I was marked as soon as he come back. The things they have made me do...I don't want that for myself. I will help as long as I am pardoned for everything I have done and will do. I don't want to serve anybody for the rest of my life. I want to be free."

"I will do everything I can for you as long as you don't betray us. One wrong move and I will…" Leaving the words unsaid, she kept her eyes on him as she slowly began to relax her stance.

Nott stared hard at her, his eyes naked for once. Warring with himself, to believe her or not. Finally, he nodded, looking away from her as he tugged the sleeve down, hiding the mark. Hermione grabbed his arm making him freeze at her touch.

"I'm not sure what Zephrine has told you about me but I'm not cruel. I won't make you do anything I wouldn't do."

With those quiet words, she left him in the care of the others. She made her way down the hallway and into the lab where several potions brewed.

Grabbing a box of phials and jars, she set to work. Not long after she felt him in the room.

It was him; it was always him. Hermione glanced at him, wondering why he had come looking for her.

"What is it?" she asked him, setting her glass rod down when he didn't reply.

Turning around she almost jumped to see him standing so close to her all of a sudden.

Cleaning her station with a wave of her hand, her magic taking care of everything, she waited for him to speak. He watched her silently for a few more minutes before turning away from her. "Would you really kill if necessary? Or would you make one of us do it for you."

Hermione stilled, anger surging through her. She might have been using Occlumency but around him, it never worked. He had a way of making her strongly to his words, even after two years he still made her mad as hell. But she had to remember that he hadn't spent two years away from her.

She had grown in those two years, she didn't have to prove herself to him anymore and yet...

"I'm not Dumbledore. I won't ask any of you for something like that. If I wish to rid myself of somebody I will do it myself."

Snape turned back to her, dark eyes locking with hers. "Can you really? Are you ready for what is to come? Can you look into another's eyes and kill them?"

"I will with good reason. Killing for the sake of killing is psychotic. If I were to ever kill another human, I am sure I will feel something. Because if I didn't, I will be just like them." Hermione answered as she turned her back on him.

Hurt and anger whirled inside her at his questions. She didn't understand why she felt like that but she didn't like it.

She owed him nothing.

…...o0o

It was a few weeks later that Snape brought news of a creature that Riddle had created. The way he had described it had made Hermione sure that it could be a living item, a living Horcrux.

Hermione lifted the notebook off her desk and wrote down the description of the snake. Snape had said that its name was Nagini. It had been hidden from all the other Death Eaters until the last meeting.

Sitting back she rubbed her head and dropped her shields. It had been the longest she had gone Occluding. A whole week without much break. She still needed to talk with Percy and just last night she had gotten a letter from Harry.

He was mad that he was being watched but kept out of Order business. He had said Ron visited him but he had only told Harry to tell her hi. Which served to remind her that she hadn't seen them in over two years.

But, touching her necklace, it also reminded her that she hadn't seen her parents. It felt like the distance between them had only grown. But only on her side. Being with Adrian and Marcus felt like it used with Harry and Rons. Except less fighting. It felt the same with Dimitry and Zephrine.

Shaking those thoughts away she rose and headed towards the kitchen, leaving her bathrobe on her chair. The house was empty since everybody was over at a special meeting.

It had surprised her when Dimitry had told her that Riddle had asked for the wives to attend. It had made him fearful for his own wife.

Grabbing a cup, she filled it with water and waved her hand over it, warming it up. Grabbing a small packet of tea, she set it inside and waited.

It wasn't until she felt a tug in the wards that she swirled to face the door. It opened with a loud thud, and she gasped as she stared into Snape's eyes. He limped in, arm hanging limply at his side. Rushing forward she summoned her bag as she grabbed him around the waist, ignoring his hiss of pain as she helped him onto the couch.

She slowly lowered his body onto it and cleaned him with a wave of her hand. She still wasn't able to do many spells without her wand but this she could.

"Which number?" The number was the level of pain and level of danger. He gasped out three before losing awareness.

Working quickly, she cut off his clothes and vanished it in annoyance when she couldn't see the wound, leaving him only in ripped pants. It wasn't until she turned him onto his back that she saw the large slices running down his back.

Cleaning them and adding paste for the next hour made her weary, sweat running down her back and chest as she worked nonstop. She could have saved herself time and used Dittany but she didn't have any in stock.

More like they weren't ready.

Leaving him on the couch for a second as she boiled water to wash him down since cleaning spells could only do so much.

She summoned a bathrobe from the guest room and hesitated as she looked at his body. It was pale and with surprise, she noted the lean muscles across his stomach.

Feeling herself turn pink for even looking she forced his body around once again so she could clean his back.

His back, once healed, looked rugged. It was full of old scars and what looked like cigarette wounds. It was her first time seeing anything like that. Aside from the usual wounds she saw Harry and Ron get.

Brushing one of them she hadn't noticed the difference in his breathing until he spoke. "Mrs. Granger, kindly get your hands off me," he growled out.

She paused, hand still on the scars, rag on the other hand. "Why should I?"

He growled once more and swiftly turned around, surprising her and making her lose her concentration in the bowl she had been floating.

It tipped over, drenching her neck and chest in lukewarm water, a faint hint of pink in it from the blood making her white top slightly transparent. He froze over her, his eyes raking her upper body, making her flush.

He closed his eyes and rose up. He grabbed the bathrobe and put it on, regardless of the remaining paste on his back. She sat up, ignoring the water that slid down her chest and onto her stomach.

Hermione stopped him from moving away from her with her hand on his shoulder. "I'm not done. But you can do the rest if you can."

Leaving the rag on the table, she passed him and reheated the cup of tea. She removed the little packet of herbs and took another cup out. She stopped when she heard him speak up.

"Finish it."

Feeling pleasure at those words, she forced herself to not think more of it. She sat him down on the table stool and set to finish her work. It was going well until she had him turn around and face her.

She stared a second longer than she should have and his sneered, "What? Do I disgust the Gryffindor Princess so much?"

Hermione dropped the rag and grabbed his face, surprising them both as she leaned forward. "No, you don't disgust me. Far from it. I don't know why. But…"

She leaned the rest of the way in and kissed his surprised lips.

His lips felt rough yet soft against hers. Her mind went blank as desire seared her body and stole her breath. It was nothing like she had ever felt before.

Feeling the familiar tug of the wards she ignored them and kept kissing him; he returned the touch tentatively.

It sent pulses of pleasure through her body as his lips molded to hers. A second later she was pushed back and she turned at the last second to see Dimitry and Percy Weasley standing by the front door.

Oh Shite.

…..o0o0o0o0o...

Thank you for reading!

Slightly fixed and new details added in.

3/4/19